A Chance Encounter
by Kat1987
Summary: Edward Cullen and his family have lived in Forks for over a year. With the start of his junior year Bella Swan, a new mysterious girl, moves to town. All of the Cullens are human...as for Bella...read and find out!
1. Chapter 1: Junior Year

_This new story is 100% imagined by me, only using Stephenie Meyers character names, some of her mentioned traits, and location. There is no profit being made at all!_

_This is basically Twilight, but reversed...The Cullens are human, Bella (and possibly Charlie) are vampires...I'm still trying to work in Jacob...This is primarily in Edwards POV, but I may occasionally add in another view if I feel like it...Please R&R_

EPOV

Forks, Washington one of the most miserable places to live because of the constant amount of rain, cloud filled days and cold. I've only been living in Forks for a year, because my adopted father Carlisle Cullen took the position as Chief of Medicine at the local hospital. He and my adopted mother Esme were both interested in getting away from the big cities especially since my four adopted siblings and I are all teenagers. We were each adopted by Carlisle and Esme at different points in our lives, but within a few months of each other. I was the first to be adopted, I was seven, my parents had just died in a car crash and thanks to the Cullen's I only had to be in foster care for two months. Rosalie, who was nine, was adopted a month after me, Emmett was also nine when he was adopted a month after her, Alice, seven, and Jasper, eight, were adopted at the same time a month after Emmett.

We've never asked Carlisle or Esme why they adopted us so quickly, and why they chose to adopt so many children around the same ages, but living with them is definitely the best thing to have happened to all of us, except moving to Forks. We all protested, we didn't want to leave our school and our friends, especially since Rosalie, Emmett and Jasper would have been graduating in a year, but also because we didn't want to move to a small town with a population so tiny a person basically would know everyone in town.

Our first day at Forks High School was not promising either. We were all way ahead of our classmates. At the school we had transferred from Emmett, Rosalie and Jasper had already completed the classes that Forks had to offer. But, they had to take them all over again, which didn't please their teachers because they had nothing to teach them. Emmett especially groaned at the aspect of repeating the classes he already took saying that he, Rosalie and Jasper should have been allowed to graduate right then and there. Carlisle and Esme, however, insisted that 'town life' is better than 'city life' and that it wouldn't hurt us to have what we learned and knew re-enforced. Only Alice and I still had more to learn, since we were only sophomores when we transferred.

When I woke up this morning, the first day of the junior school year, I was not looking forward to seeing the faces of my classmates that I had avoiding seeing all summer. Esme was trying to make all of us feel better about school by making us a giant breakfast of pancakes, eggs and bacon. Only Emmett was refusing to play along. "I don't see why they wouldn't let us graduate last year! I mean come on Esme; we've learned this stuff already! How much more can we learn?!"

"Emmett, I know you are frustrated with their requirements and that you've completed those requirements in another school, but you still have to actually record their requirements in order to graduate! Like I told you last year, you'll be able to re-enforce what you learned and get better scores on your SAT's and ACT's!" said Esme serving each of us a stack of pancakes, a spoonful of eggs, and several slices of bacon. "Now eat up! I don't want you to go to school starving."

We all ate in silence, the only who was remotely excited about school was Alice, but she knew at this point to not be overly excited around us. After we all finished eating we each gathered our backpacks and headed to the garage. "Edward, you need to drive today I didn't get gas and neither did Emmett," said Rosalie as I walked toward her car. "Whatever," I replied turning around to get to the driver seat.

_They always forget to get gas! I hate being their chauffer!_ I thought as I unlocked the doors to my Volvo. _But at least we can listen to the music _I_ want to listen to_.

Once we were all in the car and I had my favorite CD in the player we took off toward the highway to get to the school. When we arrived and parked only I stayed behind. "See you later Edward!" shouted Alice as she walked with Jasper toward the main building, with Rosalie and Emmett close behind them. I stayed in the car and continued to listen to my CD; I was not ready for the new school year, since I borrowed the school books of my older siblings I knew what to expect for the classes.

As I continued listening to my favorite songs, I was interrupted by sudden commotion from the right side of my car.

"Hey did you hear? Chief Swan's daughter is coming to live here! Man the last time I saw her, woo boy lets just say 'wow'!" said Mike Newton to Eric Yorkie.

"I highly doubt Chief Swan would let anyone date her though, he is such a quiet man outside of work, and I bet he is totally protective of his daughter. By the way, what's her name again?" asked Eric to Mike.

"Isabella," replied Mike.

_So Chief Swan's daughter is moving here. This should be interesting_. I thought as I finally got out of my car and walked to get my schedule; the whole time wondering if I was going to meet the girl, who described by Mike was, 'wow'.


	2. Chapter 2: Classes

_There seems to be some interest yay! So here we are at Forks High School following Edward around...Once again, I do not own anything and I am not making a profit...This is all for fun!_

I walked into my homeroom class and found Alice sitting at a desk by herself reading her schedule. I went to Mr. Molina's desk where I searched through the stack of "C" last names and found mine. I went to where Alice was sitting, and sat down.

"So Alice, did you get the classes that you wanted?" I asked her while I skimmed my schedule.

"I sure did! Man this school year is going to be fun, don't ya think?"

"Mmmm," I replied not really caring about what she just said, "What lunch do you have?"

"C lunch, I love C lunch! The day moves so much faster! Do you have C lunch too?"

"Yeah, I hope the others do too, it's always more fun with them around." _And I won't have to listen to you squeal about school the whole time_ I thought to myself.

Mr. Molina finally entered the room, nodded at all of us in the room and went toward his desk. "Alright, alright summer is over. Now you all have your schedules I hope yes? Good, if you have any problems go to the office as soon as possible to change your classes around if you can. Remember that you are juniors, act like it! Be a good example for the younger grades, and even the seniors! Get out of here and go to class!"

"See you at lunch Edward!" said Alice literally skipping out of the classroom. I just rolled my eyes at her, I have no idea how she can like school so much.

I headed off to my first class, gym, and the whole time I was walking towards the building, I was wondering if Isabella Swan was going to be there. As I entered the gym the teachers were directing us to the bleachers. I scanned the crowd for either a familiar face, or for hers, but saw no one who I would want to sit with. I took my seat and the gym teachers called out our names and told us that we weren't going to start any activity until the third school day. We all just continued to sit on the bleachers; I pulled a book out of my backpack and tried not to focus on anyone around me.

"Cullen – that was the bell! Get out of here!" said one of the teachers.

I quickly put my book away and raced to my next class. Again I hoped that I was going to meet this new girl, and by the whispers and groups of classmates people were seeing her. But not me...

After sitting through the next two classes it was time for lunch. I entered the cafeteria line, bought some pretzels and I looked around the cafeteria for Alice.

"Edward! We're over here!" called Emmett from a table near the corner.

I made my way over to the table and found all of my siblings there. As I sat down I heard Rosalie scoff. "There is no way that girl is all _natural_ if you get what I mean," she said to Alice.

"I highly doubt any parent would allow their seventeen year-old to have that drastic of plastic surgery Rose! You're just jealous because she is getting attention and not you," said Alice.

"Who are you talking about Alice?" I asked with the answer already forming in my head.

"Chief Swan's daughter, Isabella. Have you seen her yet?" asked Alice excitedly.

"No, not yet – but from what I have been hearing about her I want too!" I responded slowly opening my pretzels and looking around the room. I saw Emmett exchange a look with Jasper, both of them smiled, and both turned back to me with the same smiles on their faces.

I began to eat my pretzels, and I tired to ignore my brothers as best as I could through the rest of lunch. I had barely eaten when the bell rang for lunch to end. "Hang in there kid, if you don't see her, we'll set something up!" said Emmett laughing as he and Jasper walked toward their next class.

I walked alone to biology; I got to the class before too many students filed in. "Just sit anywhere Edward," said Mr. Molina. I sat down and stared out the window, when I saw a reflection of a girl I didn't recognize, I turned toward the door and saw – her...

**_Sorry for the cliff-hanger, but I am still working on Bella...Luckily I am on Spring Break this week, so hopefully I'll get another chapter up here soon when we actually get to see Bella...please R&R and any tips on how to get Jacob in the story will be most helpful!_**


	3. Chapter 3: Never Living this Down

_Woo I had some major writers block today, but I was able to write the next chapter thanks to reality television! So, this is still in EPOV and I have started working with Bella outside of his POV, and I have a good idea how Jacob will be in the story, so don't worry Team Jacob! I won't post BPOV until more of the story is written because right now there are too many spoilers. Once Edward has figured things out I'll post her POV. As always I do not own anything Twilight related, and no money is being made. The only "profit" is knowing people are reading this and liking it...Thanks! R&R please!_

She looked – stunning – I inhaled deeply when I saw her. She was pale, so pale it looked like her skin had never known the sun. Her hair, dark brown, hung completely straight right to the middle of her torso; from the slight distance of the room I could not make out an eye color, but I guessed that they matched her hair. She gracefully walked toward Mr. Molina's desk; her hair barely moved I noticed despite its length. "Welcome back to Forks, Ms. Swan. Have a seat anywhere for now we'll be changing seats soon anyways."

I quickly turned my gaze to the front of the room when she turned my way. I felt my face blush and I noticed a small smile on her lips as she passed by and went to the back of the room. It didn't take Mr. Molina long to get the class started with his favorite activity, seating arrangements. He has a weird obsession placing different students together based off of the letter of our last names and how they related to the periodic table.

"Okay, for the Caesium element – Edward Cullen and Isabella Swan," said Mr. Molina pointing at the table right behind where I was sitting.

"It's just Bella, Mr. Molina," said Bella in a soft, singsong voice as she moved to our desk.

I grabbed my backpack and sat down. When she joined and sat I turned to her holding out my hand.

"Hello, I'm Edward Cullen, nice to meet you,"

"Hi, I'm Bella, as you've just heard," she said stiffly and staring at my hand. The look in her eyes seemed to want to shake my hand, but at the same time she seemed repulsed by my hand being there. She quickly looked away and faced forward to Mr. Molina

I pulled my hand back and folded my fingers together. _Stupid, stupid, stupid! You don't hold your hand out to shake a girl's hand!_ I thought to myself as Mr. Molina began his beginning of the school term speech. _If Emmett or Jasper were here I would never live this down!_

I wanted to talk to her; get to know her, but my throat was suddenly dry and Mr. Molina wouldn't shut up so that I could talk to her. The bell rang and she left all too quickly. I sighed and slapped myself on the forehead as I put the syllabus away in my backpack. I had Spanish next, and I was happy to see Emmett sitting in the class. Thankfully for me, Emmett was not good with Spanish so he couldn't take the fourth year level. He noticed the dumbfounded look on my face and began to laugh.

"You saw her didn't you?!" he asked when I joined him.

"Yeah, I have her in my biology class."

"You should see your face right now bro! It looks like someone punched you in the stomach," he couldn't stop laughing which angered our teacher. It took him a few minutes but once our teacher started speaking to him in Spanish, he calmed down.

The rest of the day seemed like a blur and before I knew it I was standing outside next to my Volvo.

"Edward! Helllooo! Edward, you who anyone home?" asked Alice nudging me and moving her hand up and down in front of my face.

"Huh? Oh hi Alice, sorry I didn't notice you standing there. What's up?"

"It's time to go home! Can you unlock the doors so we can leave?"

I hit the automatic door unlock button on the key chain and heard Emmett and Jasper laughing. We all got in the car but before I could put the key in the ignition I saw her again walking toward a very beaten looking truck. Rosalie 'humphed' in the backseat, and I was frozen. I watched her walk just as graceful as before, she got in the truck in one swift motion and I heard her truck roar to life.

"EDWARD! I want to go home!" said Emmett playfully hitting me on my shoulder. "Do you need me to drive?" he started laughing.

I put my key in the ignition and pulled out. I wanted to follow the truck, but knew with my family in the car I would never be allowed to get away with it. "I don't know why people think she's attractive," said Rosalie after a few minutes.

"Well of course you wouldn't think she's attractive Rose," said Emmett in response. "But I do know there is _someone_ in this car who finds her attractive!" He turned to face me, punched me again, and I felt the blood rush into my face.

_Nope, I'm never going to live this one down_ I thought to myself as I sped off toward our home.

**_Small note: The abbrivation for Caesium, if you couldn't tell already, is Cs ...Thanks to Google! I once had a chemistry teacher who paired us as best as he could to the element table, and yeah I know Mr. Molina is a biology teacher, but I couldn't think of any other way to get them sitting next to each other!_**


	4. Chapter 4: Dinner with the Family

_Okay, so thank my professor for giving me a huge project over Spring Break! I used my mental blocks with that project, to write this chapter! So thats another cure for writers block...do homework until you get stuck with that too! I realize that these first four chapters are focused on one day, and I promise that it will start skipping time soon, but I need to get things set up in these early days of Edward Cullen's junior year...don't worry my mind is a buzz with plenty of ideas...Like always I don't own Twilight or its characters, Stephenie Meyers does...Enjoy! _

I pulled into the garage, still trying to tune out Emmett and Jasper. Rosalie and Alice quickly sped off into the house, but Emmett and Jasper hung back to wait for me.

"So what did you say to her that has you all worked up?" asked Jasper following behind me.

"I said 'Hello' that was all," I said leaving out the part about holding out my hand. I saw Esme talking with Alice, and just gave her a quick smile and starting running up the stairs, with Jasper quick on my heels.

"What did she say?" he asked

"Uh..." I hesitated; _do I really want to tell them that all I got was a 'hi' and then the cold shoulder?_ I thought. Emmett who was following Jasper began to burst into laughter, I tried to ignore him.

"She didn't say anything at all I bet!" said Emmett through his burst of laughter.

_Crap, I'm trapped!_ I thought, not sure how I can convince them that she did talk to me. Luckily we reached my room, I quickly opened the door and turned around to them before closing it and said, "You lose, she said 'hi'," I quickly closed the door. I went immediately to my CD player and turned it on. Thankfully they don't like classical so they ignore me when I play it.

I sat down at my desk, and pulled out the few homework assignments that got assigned. A few hours later there was a soft knock on the door. I jumped and looked down at my assignment and realized that I didn't even start, and my CD player was no longer playing; I had been day dreaming, something I rarely did.

"Edward, Esme says it's time for dinner" I heard Alice's voice through the door.

"I'll be down in a minute," I said still trying to get a sense of the time. I looked out my window and saw a setting sun; I guessed it was around 7. I stood up and stretched my body, which was suddenly achy from sitting in the same position for a long time. I quickly glanced in the mirror, saw everything looked fine and I took a deep breath.

I made my way down the stairs and found my family already seated around the table.

"We tried to wait for you Edward, but they were all hungry," said Esme pointing to my siblings and Carlisle.

"It's okay," I muttered as I sat down to the right of Carlisle. I picked up the serving dish and scooped some of Esme's casserole onto my plate. "Pass the mashed potatoes please," I said putting the serving dish back down. Alice handed me the bowl with potatoes and I helped myself to a spoonful. I placed the bowl down and began to eat.

"So, now that all of you are here, how was the first day of classes," asked Carlisle looking down the table at each of us. Everyone except for Alice muttered 'fine', she of course was bubbling with excitement.

"It was amazing! I love the first day of school, you get to see everyone that you couldn't hang out with in the summer! Plus I _love_ my teachers, I'm defiantly going to be challenged, but I'm not worried about that! And also we have a new student, Isabella Swan and she..."

"_Bella, she prefers to be called Bella_," I said interrupting her rant in my head.

Everyone stopped chewing, and looked at me. I felt the blood rushing to my face as I realized that I didn't say it in my head, but out loud. I noticed Esme giving Carlisle a small smile, and I saw her eyes quickly move from me back to Carlisle. Carlisle cleared his throat and said, "Swan? Chief Swan's daughter?" he said to no one in particular.

"Yeah she is," said Alice taking some of the pressure off of me. I felt her give me a little kick under the table. I turned to look at her and she quickly winked. I rolled my eyes and returned to the food on my plate. I was hoping that the conversation was over, but unfortunately luck was not on my side.

"I think the Chief is going to have some trouble on his hands with Edward!" said Emmett. "Earlier when we were leaving school, I could have sworn he was going to follow her truck!"

"Emmett, we don't make fun of each other in _the_ house," said Esme. "Do you have a class with her, since you know her nickname?" asked Esme looking at me.

Again everyone turned their gaze to me, each one slowly eating the food on their fork. I swallowed, took a quick drink of water and took a small breath.

"Biology, we sit together in Biology," I said.

"Well, if you ever have a project, she is more than welcome to come here," said Esme returning her attention to her plate. She must have sensed my discomfort because she changed the conversation. "Alice, tell me, what is your favorite class?"

Thankfully the conversation never found its way back to me and school. Alice happily answered each question Esme and Carlisle asked, and the rest of us ate in silence. I finished before everyone else, and asked to be excused. I walked to the kitchen to put my plate in the dish washer. When I turned around Carlisle was walking in, his plate in hand as well.

_Oh God just leave me alone! It's no big deal!_ I thought to myself as I started walking toward Carlisle.

"Edward, if you ever need to talk about – anything – the door to my office is always open," he said as I passed.

"mHm," I said in reply. I understood the reasons for the stares, and the concern from Carlisle. I had never dated, and never really talked about a girl who I like. _A girl who I like_ I thought to myself. I entered my room and flipped on the light. I stood still and was shocked; she was standing in my room! I blinked and then she was gone. _I just imagined it, she doesn't know where we live_ I thought to myself shaking my head. I didn't bother changing into my pajamas, I just fell face first into my bed, and fell asleep.

"Edward! You need to wake up!" said Esme gently shaking me. "Are you okay? You're still wearing the clothes that you wore yesterday," she looked concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I fell asleep doing homework." I stood up and rubbed my hand through my hair. "Can you leave please so I can change?" Esme nodded and left the room. I quickly through off my t-shirt and grabbed another one from my dresser. "Crap! I forgot my homework!" I said to myself. I turned and ran to my desk and grabbed the top piece of paper. I stared at the paper – it was complete, "Huh, I must have finished this one," I thought putting it down and picking up the next paper. That one too was complete. _Maybe I didn't space out yesterday_ I thought to myself placing both papers in my backpack.

I finished getting ready and ran down the stairs. "Here's some toast, sorry you couldn't have a full breakfast," said Esme handing me a paper towel with two warm pieces of bread. I thanked her, grabbed the toast, and ran to the garage. My siblings were already sitting in my Volvo.

"Still didn't get gas eh Rosalie?" I asked turning the car on. She didn't respond verbally, but kicked the back of my seat, I bit my lip holding back a laugh. We arrived at the school and thanks to the speed in my car we weren't late, in fact we were slightly early. When I parked everyone jumped out, I stayed behind again finishing listening to the song on the radio. I sat staring out the windshield and saw her red truck pulling into the parking lot. Just like yesterday, she got out of the car in one swift motion. She pulled her backpack over her shoulder and seemed to let out a sigh. I then noticed that she looked at me.

I turned my gaze to the radio, trying to make it look like I wasn't staring at her. I took a chance and glanced up, but she was no longer standing next to her truck. I sighed; I jumped out of my car and raced to gym.

_Yeah I know, another cliff hanger, sorry...I might add another chapter later tonight because I myself want to move the story along more ;) ...Please R&R!_


	5. Chapter 5: The Biology Project

_This is a pretty long chapter, I really wanted to start getting the story moving so you will find that time jumps...Hopefully you'll be able to catch some of what makes the vampire Bella in this story different from Stephenie Meyers vampire Bella (although there will be some very small similarities). Hopefully this will also satisfy you enough, for I am not sure if I'll be able to write with Edward tomorrow (I need to spend a little more time with Bella so that I can work out all the kinks for the rest of the story) As always I do not own this and the only profit is happiness that people are reading and liking the story!! :) ~Enjoy!~_

The day seemed to know that I wanted to get to Biology as soon as possible. Before I knew it, I was in the cafeteria line getting lunch. Because of my lack of breakfast I was starving, so I purchased a sandwich, pretzels, and water. I found the table that my family and I sat at yesterday and made a v-line straight to them. But as I was passing Jessica Stanley's table I heard her scream out, "Bella! Over here!" I had to fight my legs to make it to the table, and when I did get there I quickly glanced over my shoulder and saw her smiling and sitting down next to Jessica.

"I didn't know she had our lunch," I said quietly to myself while I sat down.

"Oh Edward, look who it is!" said Emmett leaning across the table to me.

I opened my sandwich, pretended not to hear him and took a bite. I managed another glance over where she was sitting, and saw that she was looking at me again. Before I could turn away, she did first and I swear I saw her cheek flush just a little bit.

"She's been staring at you for a few minutes," said Alice whispering to me. "When you came out of the food line, she stopped and watched you too, that's why Jessica called out to her."

I dared not look at her again for the rest of lunch. Instead I tried to focus on the conversations of my siblings, but I found that I was tuning in and out. I barely heard the bell rang, but at least today I did hear it. I stood up and turned to where she was sitting, but she had already left the room. _Well, that's good at least_, I thought while throwing my garbage away.

When I entered Mr. Molina's classroom, she was not there. _Damn I thought she would have been in here first_, I thought walking into the room. I sat down heavily sighing, _just don't watch the door!_ I thought to myself again, "Don't make it obvious" I muttered out loud; I needed to actually calm myself down by talking. I heard the chair next to me scrape across the floor and the slight breeze of something moving beside me.

"Hello Edward! How's it going?"

"Uh, hi Bella, it's going good thanks. How are you?" I was stunned! She talked to me! I wasn't given the cold shoulder today.

"I'm great thanks!" she said in her singsong voice. "I want to apologize for yesterday, I was really nervous. Starting a new school, it's scary."

I turned to look at her and found my breath catching. Her eyes were a stunning shade of golden brown, a shade I had never seen before, and she was smiling causing her eyes to have small wrinkles in the corners. She broke the stare lightly shaking her head and rolling her eyes while facing forward.

"Cell theory, evolution, gene theory, energy, and homeostasis," she said to Mr. Molina answering a question that I didn't hear.

"Mr. Cullen, do you now know what the five principles of biology are?" asked Mr. Molina

"Uh, yeah," I responded turning my attention to the chalkboard. Mr. Molina sighed, shook his head, muttered something under his breath, and then continued on teaching his lesson. I kept glancing out of the corner of my eye to look at Bella. She was busy copying notes, and every now and then she would furrow her brow.

"Edward, what did Mr. Molina just say about gene theory?" she asked me whispering and leaning toward me.

"Um, he said, 'information transfers from the genotype to the phenotype'" I said whispering back and leaning towards her.

"Okay, thanks!" she said in replay straitening herself and quickly writing what I just told her in her notes. I heard her exhale quickly and when she inhaled she turned her head away from me. _Odd,_ I thought, but turned my attention back to Mr. Molina's lecture and I secretly hoped she would need my notes again.

The bell rang signally the end of class. She slowly put her notes away and smiled at me. "See you tomorrow Edward" she said again in her singsong voice. A lump formed in my throat, I quickly nodded. _Go ask her if you can walk with her to her next class!_ my brain screamed to me. I sighed heavily and hurriedly threw my note book into my backpack and I raced out the door.

I could barely see the top of her head, and I called out, "Hey Bella wait up!" She stopped, turned around and smiled. "May I walk you to class?" I asked trying to keep my voice from shaking.

"Sure, I guess so, I'm headed to the gym" she responded.

We walked in silence for a few moments. I was trying to work up the nerve to say something, but she beat me.

"So how long have you lived in Forks?" she asked over the voices in the hall.

"One year. My family and I moved here last August when my father took the Chief of Medicine position at the hospital. Did you live here before? I remember Mr. Molina saying 'welcome back to Forks' yesterday."

"Yeah I used to live here. But when my parents divorced my mom and I moved to Phoenix," her voice sounded a little sad, like she was disappointed to be here.

"It's a hard adjustment going from warmth, sunshine and dry dirt, we moved here from L.A. so I know what you're going through."

"No. You don't," she said coarsely. "You have no idea what I'm going through!"

I stammered, _good going Mr. Wise guy, way to blow it!_ I thought to myself trying to find a way to lighten the sudden turn of conversation.

"Sorry – it's just," she sighed, "I didn't have a choice moving here. I had to for my – health," she finally said coming to a stop at the girls' locker room.

"You're health?" I tried to sound serious and not happy that she was still talking to me.

"Yeah, um – I have uh – a photosensitivity allergy. Direct sunlight, meaning no clouds, can um – make me sick,"

"Oh," was all I could say. How was I supposed to respond? We stood there awkwardly for a few minutes and I noticed that a strand of her perfect hair was over her face. I slowly stretched out my hand to move it but she flinched away, and I could have sworn she growled at me. While walking toward the door I heard her say, "Good-bye Edward," pretty sternly. I turned back and ran off toward Spanish; before I entered I took several deep breaths trying to calm down and set my face straight. Luckily Emmett never noticed and the rest of the day went smoothly.

The next few days were about the same interactions between Bella and me. We exchanged our pleasantries before biology would start, and she still allowed me to walk her to gym despite my slip up from a few days ago. But the timbre of her voice took a while longer to get back to her singsong tune.

About a week after the "hair fiasco" as I have named it, she became more relaxed with me again. I was coming out of the cafeteria line when I saw her wave to me. "Edward!" she said brightly. I smiled back, unable to wave because of my tray of food. I walked over to where she was sitting, "Hey Bella," I said.

"Would you like to sit with me today?" she asked with the same level of brightness in her voice.

"Sure!" I said a little to eagerly. I set my tray down and noticed she didn't have any food in front of her. "No lunch today?" I asked her while I sat down.

"I'm not hungry; I ate a pretty big breakfast, but thanks for asking."

I began to eat my lunch and I made sure to glance at my family. Emmett was pointing at me and was trying to get Jasper's attention away from a book. Alice was smiling and Rosalie was rolling her eyes.

"So do you have any ideas about the project in Bio?" she asked me after another few minutes of silence.

"It's pretty basic, but I was thinking that we could maybe make a food chain hierarchy?"

"Hmm, I think we can do better than that," she said with a soft laugh. "I mean we're juniors, not freshmen! I was thinking that we make a working model of the circulatory system."

"That's a good idea. To be honest, I hadn't really thought about the project, so I wouldn't have originally suggested the food chain," I took a bite of my pizza hoping she wouldn't continue to press the idea of me slacking off with my homework.

"Sure you wouldn't have!" she giggled, a pleasant musical giggle. "But in all seriousness this project is due in two weeks, and according to the weather report it's supposed to be sunny the next three days, so I won't be in school. And I want to get this project done with plenty of time to make sure it works properly."

"Well, when do you want to get started?"

"Today after school? I know it's last minute, but I really want to get started. This way if we have any problems you can get help from Mr. Molina tomorrow."

"Yeah sure today works. Where are we going to meet?"

"Uh – my house? Since I sprang this on you last minute I'll be the host," she said with a quick look on her face like she was worried, but then smiled.

"I'll have to take my siblings home first, and you don't always have to host,"

The bell rang causing both of us to jump. _Huh that was weird_ I thought to myself. _Did lunch seriously go by that fast?_ We both got up, I threw out my garbage and we walked to Biology together. Mr. Molina was already standing in the front getting ready to start the day's lecture, when we got in the classroom. We quickly sat down and took out our note books. It became our routine to check each others notes every few minutes to make sure that we didn't miss something from the lecture. I noticed that every time before Bella would lean toward me she would inhale deeply with her face looking toward the aisle and when she would lean back she would exhale.

Our conversation at lunch kept playing in my head and I noticed that I missed more key points than I thought. I stretched my hand out towards her arm to tap it, but my finger touched her hand by accident, and we both jumped.

She pulled her arm away from me and placed her hand in her lap; I also pulled my hand away, but my fingers were still sending the signal of cold, hardened skin. I looked at her while we both pulled away and she gave me a little scowl, but because of the class she didn't speak. I mouthed, "Sorry" hoping that this newest fiasco wasn't going to ruin things. She nodded, turned her notebook to me, and continued writing. I quickly wrote down what I knew I had missed in the first place, but then found myself having to copy the rest of her notes because I couldn't catch up at all.

When the bell rang and we started putting our notebooks away, I wanted to make sure that she knew I was sorry. "Bella, I didn't mean to touch your hand, I was going for your arm. I'm sorry."

"It's fine Edward – you only startled me, that's all. But I would like to walk to gym alone today okay? Can you be at my house by 3?"

"Sure, but uh – where do you live?"

She let out a heavy sigh, like I should have already known where the Chief of Police lived. "Come back to the school after you drop your siblings off at home, and you can follow me okay? I have to go, see you later."

She didn't wait for me to respond before taking off down the hall way. _Great she is mad_ I thought to myself turning and walking slowly to Spanish. I kept flexing my fingers that touched her skin, never before had I felt someone so cold with skin that felt like concrete.

"Come on! Come on!" I said out the window of my Volvo to Rosalie. "If you want to talk and flirt after school, drive your own car!" She turned to me and stuck her tongue out. She turned back to her friend and I revved my engine. "I'm serious, I'll leave you here!" She hugged her friend good bye and came to my car. She jumped into the back seat behind me and slapped the back of my head.

"Don't you dare do that to me again!" she said after slapping me.

"Drive your own car and I won't!"

"Calm down Rose, Edward has a date that's why he is so worked up," said Emmett turning around to look at her.

"It's not a date, we have a project for class," I said in defense. I tuned out my family the rest of the ride home. Instead of pulling straight into the garage, I let them out right in front of the house.

"Have fun!" said Alice when she got out of the car. "I'll tell Esme that you'll be late for dinner."

I sped off back down the highway toward the high school. I saw Bella's truck parked out front, so I slowly crept up behind it. I didn't notice that she was already in the truck, and once I came to a stop she pulled away. I followed her instantly, and we didn't travel that far from the school when she pulled into the driveway of her house. I parked in the street, not sure when the Chief was coming home. She jumped out of her truck, and turned to wait for me. I smiled and gave her a tiny wave as I turned the car off and grabbed my back pack.

She started walking up the path to the front door and opened it.

"Unlocked? Isn't that pushing it a little?" I asked as I came up the steps.

"Who is going to break into the house of the police Chief?" she asked playfully.

"Good point," I responded. "So am I forgiven for earlier?"

"I already told you that you startled me and nothing more," she said a little exasperated. "I have all of the materials in the dining room, it's through there," she pointed me to the table.

I took the hint to have a seat. I looked at the pile of materials that she had on the table. I couldn't make sense of anything that I saw in front of me. She came in the room and walked to the kitchen, "Can I get you something to eat or drink?" she asked.

"Nah, I'm fine thanks."

She came back to the table with a small bowl of water. She set it down on the table and took a seat. She began to untangle all of the mess on the table. "We can use this surgical tubing to be the arteries. I also read that corn syrup with a little water and red food coloring can be the same consistency of blood," she said while stretching out the tubing. "So here's the water, corn syrup and food coloring, how about you mix these together?" she asked pushing all of the ingredients towards me.

She began to cut the tube into smaller pieces, and she did it with such precision that I thought to myself that I wouldn't have been able to make such perfect cuts. She grabbed a motor and a wind pump and placed the tubes over the pump. She flipped the motor on and sighed, "I'm not sure how we can make the right pressure to get the syrup to move through here," she said almost to herself. "Do you have the blood ready?" she asked keeping her eyes on the tubes.

"Yeah, here you go," I said handing her the bowl. She absentmindedly reached for the bowl, and this time her fingers touched my hand. I inhaled sharply and pulled my hand back, _not again_, I thought. But she made no noise and poured some of the mixture into the tubes; it didn't move like she thought it would have.

I watched her work with the motor and wind pump, and I could still feel the lingering cold on my skin. We sat in silence for a long time, she just continued trying to fix the tubes when suddenly her head snapped up; she stared out the window. I looked at her, out the window, and back to her. I couldn't see anything, and I was confused what she was seeing.

"Is everything okay?" I asked her finally.

"Charlie, he's home early, stay here," she said standing up and walking outside.

I looked out the window, but only saw my Volvo and her truck. _How could she know that Charlie is coming home, and who's Charlie?_ I thought to myself. When I looked back out the window and saw the cruiser pulling in behind her truck, I knew he Charlie was. I felt my pulse increase and a lump forming in my throat.

I could barely hear her voice, and his, but I couldn't make out words. I heard both of them walking up the stairs, and the door opening. "Edward can you come here please?" asked Bella timidly.

I obeyed, and met her and Charlie by the front door. "Hello Edward," said Charlie when I entered the room.

"Hello Chief Swan," I said holding out my hand.

"Right now, Mr. Swan is fine, I'm off duty," he said returning the gesture and shaking my hand.

"Um dad, can I have his arm back so we can finish our work?" asked Bella looking awkward at Charlie and me.

"I think he needs to go home; you can come back tomorrow and finish. It's time for dinner," replied Charlie not taking his eyes off of me. Bella made a sound like she was going to fight back, but I nodded.

"Yeah I should get going. Esme hates it when we don't eat as a family," I said walking toward the dining room to grab my backpack. When I returned to the front door Bella was standing alone; I could see Charlie sitting in the living room. She opened the door and followed me outside.

"You are coming back tomorrow right?" she asked when we got to my Volvo.

"Yeah of course; I'll find out from Mr. Molina how we can get the pressure to work right and I'll bring you your homework," I said opening the door and throwing in my backpack.

"Thanks, but I already have my homework. So I'll see you tomorrow after school," she said to me when I turned back around to face her.

"Yep, tomorrow," I said slightly aware that she was standing pretty close to me than normal. She extended her hand, brushed my arm, and walked back toward her house. I got in my Volvo, and drove off back home confused.

_Phew, what a chapter huh? If you liked it leave me some love in a review! And yes I know, a vampire wants to make a project on the circulatory system!!_


	6. Chapter 6: Conversation with Carlisle

_So Edward decided to be quiet today, I was having major writers block with him today and I couldn't write a full chapter. SO instead I have given you the POV of Esme and Carlisle. Their POV's take place right when Edward gets home from Bella's house. ~Enjoy!~_

Esme POV

I saw Edwards Volvo drive come up the driveway and entered the garage. I went to the fridge where I had a plate of food waiting for him and went to put it in the microwave. He entered and the look on his face worried me.

"Do you know if Carlisle is available?" he asked when he entered the kitchen.

"He's in his study, doing some work, but you know his door is always open," I said as smoothly as I could. "Do you want me to heat your dinner now, or after you talk with Carlisle?"

"After I talk with Carlisle please; Thanks mom," he left the kitchen and walked toward Carlisle's office.

_"Mom" this can't be good_, I thought to myself putting his plate back in the fridge.

Carlisle POV

I sat in my office going over hospital bills and inventories. The pounding headache that I had from the hospital was finally going away thanks to Esme's delicious and satisfying dinner. The one thing that I love about living here in Forks is once I leave the hospital there isn't much to cause more stress. Well, except raising five teenagers; five hormonal teenagers. That was the other reason why Esme and I moved the family here; we figured the small town life would be better instead of the fast paced life of L.A.

While comparing last months inventory with this months I heard a knock on the door. "It's open," I called out, not taking my eyes off of the computer.

"Uh, dad can I talk to you?" said Edward quietly while coming into my office.

"_Dad," this can't be good_ I thought. Esme and I never wanted the kids to call us "mom" and "dad" because each one was adopted at the age when they knew their real parents. We both discovered, however, that when there is some problem they call us mom and dad.

"Yeah sure Edward, come have a seat," I said saving the information on my computer and turning the screen off. I wanted to make sure that I gave Edward my full attention. "What's on your mind, Son?" I asked turning my attention to where he sat.

He looked down at the floor, never a good sign when he doesn't give eye contact when he talks. He sat there for a few minutes, silent, but I didn't want to push him into talking; he hardly ever comes to talk to me or anyone. He took a few deep breaths, looked up at me, and finally spoke, "How can you – uh, how do you know when – uh," he stopped and quickly returned his gaze to the ground.

"Howdoyouknowwhenagirllikesyou?" he said very quickly that I couldn't make out what he said.

"Edward, take a breath, and say that again slower please," I told him gently.

He took more than one breath, more like five very deep breaths. While keeping his gaze on the floor he spoke again, "How do you know when a girl likes you?"

_Bella Swan I bet_, I thought to myself. I sat back in my chair and pushed away from the desk. I wanted to make him feel like we could talk causally, not so formally so I put my arms up over my head. "Well, it always depends on the girl. Some of them give little signals; others might ignore the person they like. In all honesty I've never studied nor understood women."

"Well, how did you know that Esme liked you?" he asked looking up at me finally.

"Esme?" I sighed, "Uh, well she," I sighed again, "She slammed a door in my face, on accident of course, but she was always so nervous around me that she didn't know I was standing a little too close behind her when she closed the door. It was pretty funny though, I told her I would forgive her if she went to dinner with me, and then the rest is history," I started laughing a little bit, remembering that night when I purposefully stood to close to the door and actually slammed it into my own face when she closed it.

"What does it mean when they lightly brush your arm?" he asked, his face burning a bright red and his eyes immediately returning to the floor.

"That sounds like a pretty clear signal to me," I said nodding my head, "Is that all you needed to know?"

"Um, how dangerous is a photo-sensitivity allergy?" he said returning his gaze to me.

"Again that depends, on how severe the allergy is. Some people can't have any sunlight what-so-ever, others can go outside as long as there are clouds, and there are some who can't have any light, even artificial light bulbs can be dangerous,"

"What are some of the symptoms?" he asked with a sense of urgency.

"Uh, I would imagine blistering, burning, hives, a rash. In all honesty in my career as a Doctor, I have never met anyone with this allergy. I could look it up for you in one of my books if you'd like?" I was somewhat confused about his sudden interest in medicine.

"No that's okay, I was just wondering if there was anything life threatening," he seemed relieved, but I knew better.

"Edward, any allergy can carry a risk of being life threatening. But again, it all depends on the severity of the allergy. Do you know somebody with this allergy?" I asked wondering where his interest in photo-sensitivity allergies was coming from.

"Chief Swan's daughter does. She told me that was why she had to move here."

_I knew it; Bella Swan's been on his mind_ I thought to myself before trying to get more information from him. But before I could speak he stood up; I did the same I wanted him to stay and continue to talk.

"Thanks Carlisle, I'm going to eat dinner now," he began walking to the door.

"Wait, Edward, if you still need to talk –,"

"No that's all I needed Carlisle. Thanks again," and then he left the room.

I sighed and sat back down at my desk, turned the computers screen back on and tried to get back to the inventories, but I couldn't. I just sat back against the chair again and smiled for the fact that Edward finally opened up to me, if only a little bit.

Esme POV

Edward re-entered the kitchen about ten minutes after talking with Carlisle. The look on his face made me feel less worried. _Oh thank God! Carlisle must've calmed whatever was bothering him_ I thought.

"Now, how about some dinner?" I asked him getting the plate from the fridge again.

"Sounds wonderful, thanks," he smiled at me, a smile he hardly ever smiles.

I opened the microwave and accidentally hit my forehead with the door. Edward broke out into laughter.

**_I hoped you liked being able to get Esme and Carlisle's POV, it was fun writing them. I hope Edward speaks to me tomorrow so that I can get the next chapter from his POV uploaded. Basically this chapter was supposed to be his POV, but like I said I couldn't get in his head, so I chose Esme and Carlisle; the next chapter though will not be this replayed from Edwards POV...It will be different. _**

**_Not wanting to sound like a total broken record but, I don't own anything Twilight related, Stephenie Meyers does...I am only writing this for the fun and enjoyment. Many thank you's to every one who has reviewed and who has added this story to their favorites! I'm flattered! :)_**


	7. Chapter 7: Sharing Secrets pt 1

_How to cure writer's block number 3: Go to a two hour long choir rehersal and spend the whole time thinking about your story! I'm glad to know that nobody was upset over the change in POV from the last chapter, but don't worry we are now back in the head of Edward! YAY! This chapter will be split up into two chapters...It will help me out because I get to celebrate my grandparents' 50th wedding anniversary on Saturday so I won't be able to sit at my computer all day (so when I come home I can easily post the next chapter, I won't have to write it first!) _

_Let me set the stage for this part: We get a little Cullen family interaction (awe) and then Edward/Bella interaction! ~Enjoy!~ _

EPOV

The next morning I was actually looking forward to going to school, even though I knew Bella wasn't going to be there, just the thought that I was going to her house afterwards made me happy. I woke up earlier than my siblings, and found Esme and Carlisle in the kitchen, who both looked shocked to see me up so early. I quickly ran to the garage and jumped into Rosalie's BMW, _She has plenty of gas that little liar_, I thought when I turned her car on and saw that the gas gage was at full.

I turned her car off and started back to the house. "Oh sorry Carlisle!" I said almost bumping into him when I entered the house.

"Not a problem, that's what coffee mug lids are for!" he said with a chuckle. "Bye Esme, love you!"

"Bye Carlisle, I hope all goes well for you today love!" she replied from the kitchen.

When I re-entered the kitchen Esme was sitting down at the small table with a cup of coffee, a bagel and the local newspaper. While still reading an article she asked me, "Is Carlisle in the garage?"

"Yes," I replied.

She quickly set the paper down and ran to the kitchen window that overlooks the driveway. I saw her smile reflecting in the glass and she waved. She then turned to me with the smile still on her face. "Can I get you something for breakfast?" she asked sweetly.

"I can get it! Go on back to _your_ breakfast!"

She nodded, walked back to the table and continued reading the paper. I finally noticed that she was in her pajamas, with a bath robe, and slippers. Her hair was still a mess from sleeping, and she had no make-up on; but upon further inspection I decided that she really didn't need to wear any make-up at all. This was a sight I have never seen; she and Carlisle were always dressed and ready to go when we woke up.

I wasn't very hungry so I decided on orange juice and a bagel. I joined her at the table when I finished gathering my breakfast. She looked up from the paper, smiled and grabbed her coffee cup. "It's nice to have company this morning," she said after sipping her coffee and placing the cup on the table. "Was there anything important in Rosalie's car that you turned it on?" she asked.

"I was making sure she has gas. I'm going back over to Bella Swan's house after school to continue working on our project, so I need to drive separately," I replied.

"That's nice! I'm glad to know that you are interacting with your peers at school; even if it's for a class," she responded smiling at me again.

I nodded took a bite of my bagel and looked around the quiet kitchen. "So do you and Carlisle do this every morning?" I asked her.

"Every morning since we got married," she nodded closing her newspaper. "We married when Carlisle was still an intern, so sometimes the mornings were the only time we got to have to be with each other. After all these years, it's become our little routine," she said with a sort of 'remembering' in her voice.

"I'm sorry I interrupted your routine then," I said feeling somewhat ashamed that I ruined one of their moments together.

"You interrupted nothing! That's just what we do; he tells me he loves me when he gets to the garage, I wish him well, I go to the window, he drives past and slows down, I wave, he blows me a kiss, then I finish breakfast and get you all ready for the day," she said softly sighing.

"As long as you're sure I didn't interrupt then okay," I said taking another bite of my bagel.

She nodded, picked the paper back up and continued reading. A few minutes later, Alice came down the stairs with a big smile on her face, "Morning Esme! Oh – and Edward!"

"Morning Alice," said Esme. "Is it my turn for the bathroom now?" she asked placing the paper down on the table.

"Yep!" replied Alice almost gliding to the fridge.

"Then please excuse me while I get myself ready for the day," she said standing up and grabbing her coffee cup; she then disappeared up the stairs.

Alice continued getting her breakfast ready. She sat down where Esme had been sitting and picked the paper up. "I didn't think you were a morning person Edward," she said to me.

"I'm not really. I just uh – couldn't sleep so I decided to get up,"

"Hmm, well mornings are great! It's so calm and peaceful," she said smiling. She was reading the paper when the toaster dinged signaling her breakfast was ready. I watched her grab a plate and place what I thought was just toast on it. When she returned to the table I finally noticed what she was having for breakfast.

"We have toaster waffles! I didn't know we have toaster waffles!" I said to her as she took a bite.

"We always have toaster waffles, but you always wake up late and miss breakfast!" she said matter-of-factly.

Pretty soon everyone was awake and we were leaving for school. I drove alone as every one else drove with Rosalie. I was glad to have the car to myself for the fact that I didn't have to listen to Emmett hassle me about going to Bella's house.

The school day went by faster than I would have imagined. I had thought that the lack of Bella would have made the day longer, but my excitement to be with her was much more overpowering. I had to remind myself to remain calm as I drove to her house. I parked where I had the day before. The first thing I noticed about the house was all the window shades were closed. "Duh! Her allergy to the sun," I told myself.

I took the steps of the porch two at a time and gently knocked on the front door. "Come on in Edward," I heard her voice through the door.

I opened the door and saw her standing on the steps. She was wearing a dark colored sweater; I guessed to protect her skin from the sunlight when I opened the door. However, little bit of the sunlight followed me in and reflected on the hardwood floors causing her to flinch. She threw her arms up to her face which was exposed, "EDWARD THE SUN!" she screamed.

I quickly slammed the door shut. "Sorry! I'm so sorry are you okay?" I said with a guilty concern in my voice. She lowered her arms and looked at me.

"No harm done," she said after a few moments. "Shall we get working on the project?" she asked with her singsong tune back in her voice.

She led the way to the dining room and I saw that the motor, wind machine and tubing was all set up waiting on the table. "I finally got the pressure to work, but I can't get any of the blood to move through the tube. So we just need to get the properties of the mixture right and our project will be complete then all we have to do is write the speech to go along with it!" she said with a smile as she sat down.

She passed me a bowl with the corn syrup and a bowl of water. I began to mix the two together, and she did the same with her own bowls of syrup and water. We worked in silence, but I secretly enjoyed the soft small breaths that she took. I looked over at her and noticed that her eye color had changed.

"Your eyes their like the color of – gold," I said.

"Um, it's just the lighting of the room. Your eyes look yellow-green," she said without taking her eyes off of the mixture she was creating.

"But last week they were golden brown,"

"My eyes change because of the lighting!" she said getting annoyed; she furrowed her brow just a little bit.

A few moments of silence passed again, but then another question popped into my head. "Is your skin so cold because you can't go into the sun?"

She sighed heavily, "_No_, its not," she said with even more annoyance in her voice.

"Well, then why is it hard like concrete?" I asked innocently.

Her reaction was not what I expected. She pushed herself away from the table, so hard that it caused the table to slam against the wall. She got up and left the room. It took me a few minutes to realize that her chair ended up sliding from the dining room to the kitchen and the back door was opened. _THE BACK DOOR IS OPEN,_ I screamed in thought. I ran to the back door and outside. The sun was shining brightly and there were no clouds in sight. _Shit!_ I thought looking around her backyard. "Bella?! Bella?!" I called out circling her backyard. I began running around crazily trying to find her but I couldn't. "BELLA!!" I screamed out again and finally I got the response I was looking for.

"Edward," her voice was calm and soft.

I turned toward the sound and saw her coming out of the forest, the hood of her sweater pulled up over her face. I ran over to her but before I could get to close she stopped me by holding up both of her hands, which were now covered with gloves.

"Edward, there is something that I need to – show you," she moved toward me and reached her hand out. She closed her hand around my right wrist; her strength matched Emmett's which shocked me, I wasn't expecting a 5'4", 120 pound girl to have such a grip.

"Okay," I said slowly and gently. I didn't want to sound too eager.

She slowly reached her hand up to her hood, and pulled it off.

**_Oh No! Cliffhager!!! AHHHH!! Yeah I know, there have been a lot of those lately! But think back to what just happened, we got to see Edward showing his protective side! Ooo I wonder what will happen next?! Oh wait I already do! hehehe! Don't worry, you will too!! Again major THANKS to you the reader (yep you, sitting there on the computer!) I really am flattered that my one little idea is making people happy! A even bigger thank you to Stephenie Meyer, for her genuis in creating all things Twilight, and for not being angry when someone innocently writes a fan-fiction for fun! Please R&R!!!_****_ They make me smile!! :) _**

**_p.s. you're all so spoiled by me! My story has only been on here since the 1st and I've been posting every day! Please prepare yourselfs now though, Spring Break ends on Sunday and then its back to doing homework for a majority of my evenings :(_**


	8. Chapter 8: Sharing Secrets pt 2

_Okay, here is part 2!_

_(in the voice of the Star Trek TNG computer voice: Previously in A Chance Encounter:_ _Edward has basically ticked Bella off, causing her to run outside into the sunshine (oh no!). He ran after her, screaming her name wanting to find her. She then comes out of the woods, and tells him there is something that he needs to see. She removes the hood to her sweater...and now the conclusion of Sharing Secrets... ~Enjoy!~_

"What are you doing?!" I screamed pulling her head into my chest to block her face from the sun. My conversation with Carlisle from the night before rang in my head, _'blisters, burning, hives, a rash_..._any allergy can carry a risk of being life threatening,'_ I quickly wrapped my left hand around her head as well, making sure there was no way the sun could get to her perfect face. "I'll get you inside, come on," I said trying to take her inside the house, but she didn't budge. I couldn't understand how someone smaller in height and weight could be able to hold her ground. I began to hear her talking, but it was muffled because her face was pushed into my chest.

I was still trying to get her to move, when her other hand came up and grabbed my left hand. With her amount of strength she pulled my hand off of her head and she pulled her head back away from my chest. I was expecting to see the worst case scenario of her allergy, but there was nothing wrong with her face; it was glowing, like she had a soft layer of diamond make-up on. "I don't understand?" I said to her not sure what she was trying to show me.

"Don't you see it?!" she asked in disbelief. "My skin, it's like sparkles!"

"Oh, I thought that was make-up" I said with true honesty.

"Make-up?! Edward, look closer at my skin!"

She released my left hand, threw her hand over my head and pulled it down to her face. I suddenly realized that this was the closest we had ever been to each other. I was literally staring directly into her face, and she was the one who put my face there to begin with! And then I noticed what she meant by her skin being sparkles; her pores looked to have very tiny diamonds encrusted in them. She pushed my head away when she noticed my eyes widened with some understanding of what she was showing me; she also released my right wrist.

"So, do you have a photo-sensitivity allergy?" I asked still puzzled about what was going on.

"Ugh! You're not to bright are you?" she said with a hint of humor in her voice. "And here I thought the adopted son of the Chief of Medicine would know _something_ about the human anatomy!"

"I never told you that I was adopted." I said suddenly wondering how she knew this.

"Please! It's the job of the Police Chief to know _everything_ about the citizens of Forks! Now come on Edward, focus!"

"Focus on what?! Bella, you need to give me something to work with here!"

She let out a tiny scream of aggravation and began to walk into the house. I followed after her wondering what she was going to do now. When we re-entered the kitchen she walked immediately to the dining room and grabbed one of the corn syrup bowls from the table. She held it up for me to see it clearly. "What is in this bowl?" she asked.

"Half cup of corn syrup with a half cup of water and about 5 drops of red food coloring," I answered.

She rolled her eyes and gently smacked her forehead with her other hand; her hand caused a small smashing noise. "NO! That's not what I mean! What are we using this for?!" she asked still holding her hand over her forehead.

"Uh to be the blood for the circulatory system?"

"Right! _Blood_, now watch," she put the bowl to the lips, and drank some of the mixture. "Now do you understand?"

"Uh – no," I said totally confused and wondering what the hell she was doing.

"Oh my God! What creature drinks _blood_?" her tone sounded like she was dealing with a small child who didn't understand what two plus two equaled.

"Mosquitoes, fleas, leaches, ticks, some bats..."

"BATS! And what other creature is known to turn _into_ a bat?"

"Um – what?!" I had no idea what she was trying to tell me.

She set the bowl down on the table, half ran to me, grabbed me and pulled me into the living room. She just about threw me onto the couch and ran over to the television set. She opened up the cabinet below the television and pulled out a movie. She popped it into the VCR, turned the television on and took a step back. She turned to me and said, "Watch!"

I did. I watched all of the pirating warnings and she fast-forwarded through the previews. She hit play and I leaned forward anxiously awaiting the answer she wanted me to know. The title sequence came on the screen and in big bold red letters I read the words: Bram Stoker's' _Dracula_.

I turned my attention away from the television and I looked at her. She was staring at me biting her lip. "Do you get it _now_?" she asked with exhaustion.

"What does Dracula have to do with your skin being sparkles?" I asked still completely 100 percent confused.

"VAMPIRE! GEZZ EDWARD! I'M A FRICKEN VAMPIRE!" she screamed.

I couldn't speak, numerous thoughts were going through my head and I thought that if I spoke any of them I would get hit or punched or have something thrown at me. I just continued to stare at her bewildered.

"Vampires, they can't come out at all during the day. They die because of the sun,"

"Edward, everything you 'know' about vampires are all myths created by _real_ vampires," she said gently. "You've felt my skin, you know how cold it is! It's because I _don't_ have a circulatory system anymore! The only thing in my veins and arteries is venom!"

_Oh this is a good game, she must have set this up with Emmett; I'll get him when I get home!_ I thought to myself. I just continued to stare at her, not really sure to believe her.

"You need to show me some proof," I finally managed to say. "Turn into something then!"

"That's a myth Edward! I can't change form. But isn't the fact that I am much shorter than you, weigh much less than you, and I am _stronger_ than you proof enough?!"

"Possibly. How long have you been a – vampire?"

"Since the beginning of August. I was changed at a summer camp. Look I know this all sounds preposterous, believe me I didn't believe in this either," she paused. "But I truly am a vampire," she said this quietly almost a whisper.

"Alright, I believe you," and I did, I truly did. There was something in the way she spoke that finally convinced me, like all she wanted was for someone to know her secret.

**_See wasn't the wait worth it?! This last part was humorous in the way Edward was just not getting what Bella was trying to get him to understand. I didn't want it to be like Twilight, plus I can't have it be like Twilight (And also Edward doesn't have a Jacob Black to tell him Native American legends!) Bella basically said to me, "Tell him now before he starts pointing out MORE obvious differences between me and the humans." So I did...and this was how I had her show him! (hehehe) And so now I leave you with another cliff hanger (although it's not as big as that last one -- phew) The ideas for the next chapter are already swimming in my head!! Please R&R!! And again huge 'thank you' for those who have reviewed!_**

**_p.s. Please note the "she must have set this up with Emmett" line...I believe its in chapter two when Emmett says, "if you don't see her, we'll set something up" Too be 100% honest, I didn't notice that until after I wrote Edwards line! But Emmett has nothing to do with her spilling her big secret!_**


	9. Chapter 9: Getting to know You

_This chapter went through many, many, many rewrites and I hope that I finally got it right! This takes off right where Chapter 8 left off, and I hope you like it...Its been hard writing because of the two days of non-stop rain, then a day of clouds, then a day of sun, and then another day of non-stop rain (I feel like that I am living in the Olympic Ridge!) plus I'm back in school and the stress is also making it hard to focus on the story...I hope you like it ~Enjoy!~ _

"Oh so all of a sudden Edward Cullen believes me! What you don't want any more proof?!" she spat at me with her eyes narrowing to small slits, I stood up to answer, but before I could answer her, she jumped at me.

I was shocked still when my body recognized the fact that her cold legs were wrapped around my torso, my head was tilted to rest on my left shoulder, and her icy breath tickling my neck. The way her legs wrapped around me, I couldn't use my arms and I could feel the panic beginning to rise.

"Do you know how _easily_ my teeth can cut into your jugular vein?" she said with a sinister growl. "Do you know that I can _see_ and _smell_ your blood flowing through your body? Every day I have to convince myself that drinking your blood isn't worth it, even though it smells so inviting"

I somehow became calm enough to finally answer her even though it was still weak, "Uh, I do now," I heard her scoff, but then her tone lightened and her grip loosened.

"You're lucky though. I'm not like normal vampires; I prefer animal blood. In actuality I would rather do this to your neck..." she trailed off, and before I could respond, I felt her cold, hard lips brush gently against my neck sending a shockwave through my body.

She completely released me after that and stood several feet from me. "So, _now_ do you believe me?" she asked when I got over the initial shock.

"Absolutely without a doubt," I replied nodding and falling to my knees. She was by my side as soon as my knees touched the ground, her arm around my shoulders.

"I'm sorry for freaking you out Edward. But you needed to know that this is who I am," her voice was comforting and she gently rubbed her hand up and down my arm. "Just be thankful that I don't want to eat you, with your scent other vampires would have you drained in seconds."

I felt the blood in my face rush out of it and I suddenly felt woozy. "What do you mean – my scent?" I asked her trying to keep from passing out.

"I should tell you this when you get over the shock Edward. Come on, let's go outside."

She picked me up and cradled me in her arms. She had no trouble with my weight, but my height and the length of my legs caused her some grief when trying to get me out the door. When she finally did get outside she began to walk down a small path in the forest that connects with the property of the house. I started feeling the blood rush back into my face with embarrassment when I thought about Emmett seeing this.

When she found a little clearing she set me down on the ground and took off her sweater. Her exposed skin began to sparkle like her face had done, but with this much skin exposed she was almost glowing. She folded her sweater into a ball placed it on the ground behind me and laid me down on top of it.

"Am I the first person you told your secret too?" I asked her after several minutes.

"Yes you are, and I need you to promise me you'll never tell anyone else," I felt her hand brush my forehead and I nodded.

"How did it happen? How did you become this way?" I opened my eyes and found her sitting next to me with her knees pulled up into her chest.

"Well, my camp counselor turned out to be a vampire. I had had a hard time at the camp because the girls who were supposed to be with me in the cabin had all cancelled so I was all alone. She came to tell me that my mom was unable to get me early and the next thing I knew she bit my neck – everything blacked out after that" she answered me cautiously and quietly.

I began to feel the shock wearing off, so I sat up. She very quickly threw her arm behind my lower back, but noticed that I was stable enough to remain sitting up so she put her arm back around her leg. "Did she teach you to eat – animal blood?" I asked her looking at her.

"No, I did that all on my own. It was my first night home after camp, my mom and step-father were sleeping. My mom's scent was so – intoxicating – I came just as close to her neck as I did to yours. But just as I opened my mouth, a voice screamed at me and told me to get out of the house. I ran, and I ran far from their house. I stumbled upon a coyote and I found that its scent was just as intoxicating," she stopped and looked at me hard. When she noticed that the blood was not leaving my face and I was not getting panicked she continued.

"So I attacked it and drank its blood instead. I noticed that it caused my thirst to soften and I decided from that moment to only eat animals," she took a breath and looked at me again, "does that bother you? That I eat animals?"

I shrugged, "I eat animals. At least you aren't a cannibal," I nudge her gently at that and I saw a small smirk on her face.

"That's not what I meant, but I'll accept it," she said beginning to laugh lightly.

"When did you move here?" I asked her when her laugh ended.

"The morning after I almost ate my mother. The vampires that counseled me told my mom that I was allergic to the sun; she believed them and had me on a plane to Seattle the next morning, so I've been here for about six weeks,"

"Wait, you were counseled by vampires? I thought it was only one vampire that changed you?"

"It was only one vampire who changed me, but she wasn't alone. She had a companion and together they taught me what I needed to know, although they both thought I was weird with how well I could control my thirst.

"They had tried to take me out hunting the first night I woke up, but I refused, I told them that the burning in my throat was tolerable, and it was until I went home,"

"I don't think that's weird" I said shaking my head, "I think that's honorable."

She let out a tiny laugh, "Well, her companion didn't think so! He accused her of having defective venom; he said something like, 'her eyes aren't blood shot red like newborns...she's not breath-taking gorgeous like newborns...and unlike all vampires, her heart is still beating.'

"But the vampire who changed me said 'that must be her ability, being able to keep her humanity.' Of course I had no idea what they meant, but when they tested me I was still able to act like a vampire,"

"Wait, vampires don't have beating hearts? Why does your heart still beat?"

"According to those two, yes vampire hearts don't beat. As for why mine still does, I don't know; they don't know either."

I looked away from her and stared off into the woods trying to digest everything that had just happened. I was also trying to think of something else to ask; I wanted to know more, to understand more, and to know why.

After several minutes of listening to birds chirp and replaying our conversation, I finally had a question, "What does it feel like? Your control, how does it feel?"

"It's hard to explain. The best way I can describe it, it's like I turn a switch in my brain between human Bella and animal Bella. When I go looking for an animal, I'm an animal, when I'm at school or anywhere with humans, I'm a human. It's quite a bizarre feeling actually. Can I now ask you a question?"

I nodded, she took a breath again facing away from me, "When were you adopted by the Cullen's and why?"

"I was seven, so ten years ago. The reason why they adopted me was because my parents died and I didn't have a living relative. I was living in foster care for two months when they adopted me,"

"Mmm," was her reply. After a few moments of silence she turned to me, "Do you have a nickname? It feels so formal calling you 'Edward' all the time."

"I don't actually. My parents called me 'Eddie' but since they died I don't want anyone calling me that, and I hate being called 'Ed' and 'Ward' just sounds weird for a nickname,"

"Well, I'll create one for you!" she was quiet and I saw her brow furrow. "How about, Mint?"

"Mint? You want my nickname to be mint? Why?"

"That's your scent; it's what your blood smells like to me. If you don't like mint I could call you bubblegum!"

"Uh, how about you give me a nickname that doesn't have anything to do with how my blood smells!"

She made a clicking sound with her tongue, "Well, then your stuck with Edward until I can think of something better that _you_ approve of!" she said lightly nudging me with her elbow.

I began to laugh, "Really, I don't mind being called 'Edward' it is my name after all!"

"Yeah, but I need a special name just for you," she said leaning over and resting her head on my shoulder. "You think of something then,"

"My name is fine for now. You can continue to think of a nickname though, if you really want to," I said contemplating leaning my head on top of hers. She nodded and then looked up into the sky.

"We should get back to my house. It's almost time for Charlie to get home and for you to leave," she said standing up and holding her hand out for me.

I grabbed her sweater and then took her hand. She had me standing in one fluid motion and I almost expected her to drop my hand, but she never did. We walked back to her house hand in hand.

"I think it would be best if you went home before Charlie gets here. I need to explain to him that you and I will be spending more time together, and I don't want him getting mad at you,"

She and I walked into the kitchen and I grabbed my backpack. She had to let my hand go so that I could put the backpack around my shoulder, and for her to put the sweater back on. Then she retook my hand and walked me to my Volvo.

"I doubt I'll see you in school tomorrow. The weather channel is wrong about there being three days of sun, I can smell the rain coming in,"

"Then why do you doubt you'll see me tomorrow?" I asked opening my door and throwing the backpack into my car.

"Oh, you'll find out soon enough. I'll come by and check on you," she brought my hand to her lips and just like with my neck she gently brushed them along my skin. She quickly released my hand and ran into the house so fast I barely saw her.

I climbed into my car and began the trip home, and I knew what she meant about me not being in school. I pulled over to the side of the road, and threw up. By the time I got home my head was on fire.

**_So I've based Bella's ability off of what I've read from the message boards. I wanted to give her much more control than the Bella in BD, she can literally turn the animal on and off. The reason for her heart to remain beating is so she can turn her instincts on and off, without that heartbeat she doesn't have that control. If your wondering who the two vampires are that are responsible for her change they are Victoria and James...The reason for Edwards collaspe is not because he was scared, but because his immune system is weak (hense the ending), but if you think about it, he has learned A LOT in one day! If your a team Jacob person and wondering where Jacob is, well calm down, Edward just hasn't met him yet, but he's coming soon! (of course Bella has, her truck)_**

**_Oh I have an open challege for you the reader, I need a nickname for Edward! Bella and I are completely stumped and maybe this way I can get some more reviews ;) What's your reward? A shot-out in the Author's note announcing the winner for everyone to read! So get creative and give me some ideas! Thanks! As always I don't own anything related to Twilight, if I did, I wouldn't be on writing a story based on a story I already wrote!!_**


	10. Chapter 10: A Pain in the Stomach

_I had hoped to get a new chapter in on Tuesday, but I had way too many essays due this week, then I found out I have even more due next week! UGH! So I took a much needed essay break to write this chapter...We get more Edward/Bella interactions! yay! Just so you know what I wrote before the ~~~ break it should have been in Chapter 9, but I forgot to write it there, so I put it here... ~Enjoy!~_

I stumbled into the kitchen and saw every member of my family standing around like they knew to expect me. The last thing I remember is Carlisle's face right before I fell into him.

I woke up to sunlight; the room had a hint of hospital cleaner, and I immediately began looking around to figure out where I was. I let out a deep sigh when I realized I was in my own room, not the hospital.

I tired to sit up, but I had no strength in my arms to push myself up. I hesitated calling out for help; I knew that everyone would be gone. I just started to try to roll over when my door opened. I looked over at it and saw Bella gracefully walking in with a tray in her hand.

"It's about time you woke up! I had to re-heat the soup four times today!" she said as she moved to my bedside.

She set the tray down on top of the bedside table and put her hand on my forehead. The icy touch of her skin, felt like a cold flame against my head. Not only did I flinch but she did too.

"You're still feverish," she said removing her hand and grimacing, "but you have cooled off since yesterday."

She gently rolled me over to the middle of my bed, propped up my pillows and then moved me back. She sat down, barely causing the mattress to move, and grabbed the bowl of soup. She looked at me, lifted the spoon to her lips, and blew out very slowly. "Do you want to try to eat?" she asked bringing the spoon towards me. I got a brief scent of the soup and my stomach ached, but not in hunger.

"Not right now," I said gasping and turning my head away from the spoon. She quickly returned the spoon to the bowl and moved the soup as far away from me as possible.

"Sorry, it's been awhile since you ate anything and you threw up a lot yesterday. Carlisle almost had you admitted for an IV drip" she said handing me a small bed pan bucket.

I took the bucket from her and just placed it next to me. We sat in silence, and I willed my stomach to stop aching. She sat next to me and I heard her humming very softly. When my stomach felt like it wasn't going to explode I turned facing her again.

"So I guess you owe the weather channel an apology, it's sunny, not raining," I said interrupting her song.

"I wasn't wrong, it rained all day yesterday. But the sun came back today," she said looking at me alarmed.

"It wasn't raining yesterday, it was sunny don't you remember? You told me your secret and we sat in the forest." I said looking at her confused.

"Wow, you're sicker than Carlisle thought. You don't remember anything about yesterday?" she said looking at me with her eyes widening.

"It was Tuesday, today's Wednesday." I said becoming slightly alarmed.

"No, today's Thursday. You honestly don't remember anything from yesterday?"

_Obviously not_ I thought, "The last thing I remember is seeing my family in the kitchen and Carlisle's face. What's weird though, my family just doesn't hang out in the kitchen."

"I called here after you left. I knew you were getting sick; I should have had you leave after I," she lightly coughed, "demonstrated my ability. I'm sorry, at first I didn't recognize the change of your body temperature, but then your scent started becoming diluted."

"You called here?! You told them I was sick?"

"I had to E! I was worried about you," she said smiling slightly.

"What did you tell them?"

"Just that you were looking sick, and you were on your way home."

I nodded and pressed my head into my pillows. "'E' is that the best you can come up with?" I smiled at her.

"You don't like it?" she frowned playfully.

"Not really, it's not very original,"

"Fine! Back to the drawing board!" she said smiling and laughing. "I'm going to call Carlisle and let him know you're awake."

She started to get up, but I quickly grabbed her wrist. She turned back and smiled at me again. "It's okay, they know I'm here," she said sitting back down.

"What? They know you're here?!"

"Of course! Carlisle can't stay home, Esme has to overlook the building of that house in Port Angeles, and your siblings have school. I volunteered to be here today."

"Why? How did you get them to go along with this?"

"It was simple. I told them because of the sun I couldn't be in school and since I do feel somewhat responsible for you being sick, I told them I'd help out by sitting with you,"

"Yeah, but I don't want you to get sick!"

"Oh silly Edward, I can't get sick; the venom kills the germs. Now stop worrying and let me call Carlisle!"

I let go of her wrist and she glided out of my bedroom. I sighed and looked at my ceiling. My head was slightly pounding, and my stomach was beginning to ache again. After a few minutes Bella returned, phone to her ear, and thermometer in hand. "Here," she said handing me the thermometer. I put it in my mouth and she took the blankets off of me. She wasn't saying anything, but she kept the phone to her ear anyway. Once the thermometer beeped and I handed it too her she finally spoke, "101.4" she said covering me back up with the blankets.

She left the room, but was back in what felt like thirty seconds. She had a wash cloth in her hand, and she placed it on my forehead; the cold flame was not as severe as Bella's hand. She went to my dresser, where she had moved the tray with the bowl of soup, and picked up the tray. "Do you feel like eating now?" she asked.

"Yeah, this ache feels like hunger not – well you know," I said looking over at the bucket next to me.

She nodded and left the room again but with the tray. She returned after a few minutes and came back to sit on my bed. She took the bowl from the tray and held up the spoon. She gave me a look and if I could have heard her thoughts I would have sworn she was asking if I was sure I wanted to eat. I nodded and she blew on the spoon like she had earlier. She brought the spoon to my mouth and I hesitated for a moment deciding if it was hunger my stomach was aching for.

I opened my mouth and she tipped the spoon; the broth flowed onto my tongue, the perfect temperature, and I swallowed.

"And now we wait," she said putting the spoon back into the bowl and placing the bowl back on the tray.

"I'm only getting one spoonful? I'm hungry!" I whined playfully.

"Hey, I'm doing what Renee always did. One spoonful, we wait twenty minutes, you hold that down you get another spoonful!" she had that face a mother makes to her child when she is passing down some wisdom when she spoke. "Then once you've kept down soup, you get to have Tylenol to get your fever down."

"Okay mom," I said winking and beginning to laugh.

She broke out into laughter too and began shaking her head. "Yep, you're on the mend!" she said trying to stop laughing.

"Are you really here because you feel guilty about me getting sick?" I asked once the both of us calmed down.

"I don't feel _guilty_, just responsible! But I – I like being with you. You keep me calm; no one else has the same affect on me."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't have to fight being human around you. I'm not 100% sure why, but there's something about you..." she stopped, stood up, and went to the window.

She stood there looking out the window with her arms wrapped around herself. The sunlight coming through the window reflected off her face, causing it to sparkle and glow. As I watched her, my stomach began to ache again; she turned to face the wall and my hand found the bucket just in the knick of time.

"Damn it! I'll be right back," she ran out of my room, and I sat there holding the bucket under my chin. I began spitting the acid that was still in my mouth out, when Bella returned with a bigger bucket and the phone. "Can you empty that into here please?" she asked trying not to look at the contents of the little bucket.

Once I grabbed the larger bucket she immediately dialed the phone. "Hey Carlisle, he was able to hold the soup down for five minutes before he threw it up," she paused and looked at me. "Yeah, he's pale again," she paused again. "We're on our way – as long as I have my sweater on the sun won't be an issue – yeah, okay see you soon."

She pushed the end button on the phone and grabbed the bigger bucket from me. She placed it on the ground and took the covers off. "Come on, Carlisle wants you to come to the hospital, and bring the little bucket."

She lifted me up to my feet, but then had to carry me to the garage. She got me into the passenger seat of her truck and rolled the window down. When she got in and had the truck driving down the road she looked over at me, "How're you doing over there?"

"Suddenly – not that good," I replied, "We should have taken my Volvo, it drives smoother than this."

"Hey! My old truck drives just fine! But I highly doubt you want to be throwing up in your Volvo, just promise me to aim for the bucket okay?"

I nodded and breathed in the air coming through the window trying to settle my stomach. I closed my eyes so that the passing scenery couldn't upset my stomach even more. Before I knew it the truck stopped and the door opened.

"Edward, how are you son?" asked Carlisle with a slight tone of panic.

"Not good," I replied looking up into his face. I noticed that two nurses and a gurney stood right behind him.

"Lets get you inside okay?" he said unbuckling my seat belt and lightly pulling me out of the truck and helping me lie down on the gurney. I heard his voice as the nurses took me inside and the roar of Bella's truck. I felt a tiny prick, and then I was asleep.

When I woke up, I heard the distinct sound of a heart monitor, and the smell of hospital cleaner stung my nose; this time I knew where I was. I looked around the room, lightly rolled to grab the "call nurse" remote and felt a slight tug on my stomach. The tug made me catch my breath, and then I saw Esme sit up.

"Oh good you're up," she said as she stood up and came to my side. "How are you feeling honey?" she asked gently feeling my forehead.

"I feel – better. What happened?"

"Appendicitis. Carlisle thought you might have had food poisoning at first, but since you didn't improve he decided to get you in here for better testing. They got it out in time thankfully."

Esme pressed the "call nurse" button, and both a nurse and Carlisle came in the room. The nurse was carrying a thermometer and she quickly took my temperature. "99.6, Dr. Cullen," she said.

"Excellent, thank you. I can finish here, go on home," said Carlisle taking a syringe from the nurse. "It's about time your temperature got below one hundred. Do you want some Jell-O?" he asked ejecting the syringe from the IV tubing.

"No, I'm not hungry, just tired."

"We'll let you sleep then," said Carlisle looking over at Esme. She nodded and gently kissed me on my forehead. "We'll be back in the morning," said Carlisle again, gently placing his hand on my arm.

They turned off the light, and I sat in the bed staring around the room, waiting for sleep to take over.

**_Poor Edward! His appendicitis is actually based off of a real appendicitis that one of my friends brother had. We will have more time jumps, so don't worry if you feel like the time line isn't moving...Bella obviously has many more secrets to tell Edward, but she has to wait until he is strong enough to tell him...He needs to be healthy for what she still has to tell him...I'm also still waiting for nickname help!! Come on! I know you guys have an imagination! Reviews are always welcome and they make me smile! As always Stephenie Meyers owns all things Twilight, this is just a fun fan-fic... _**


	11. Chapter 11: Nighttime Visits

_Okedoke, this chapter took a lot of revision! I might have to post the original format for it, even though it is unfinished (it gives us more of a look into Emmett and Jasper) and I hated taking it out, but man did it slow the story! Some of the basics though from that original draft are here...I ended up making this two chapters in one, the break that you'll encounter is meant to be the second chapter (but this will all be chapter 11)...It was nice being in Edwards head after having to write essays all week so I hope you enjoy!_

I went home the next afternoon since my fever had been gone for several hours. I was glad to be out of the hospital; the smell was starting to make me sick.

My room was temporarily set up in Carlisle's office, since I wasn't allowed to walk up the stairs to my room. The roll away bed wasn't as comfortable, but Esme and Alice brought several extra soft pillows to prop me up with. I was supposed to go straight to sleep, and I would have if it wasn't for the lingering smell of the hospital on my skin. I convinced Esme to let me have a shower first, and she got Emmett and Jasper to help me.

After the strange experience of showering directly in the sight of my brothers, I tried to sleep. I had always thought that Carlisle's office was quiet and peaceful, but I could hear every noise in the house; the television from the living room, Alice talking with Esme in the kitchen, Rosalie's chatter on the phone. I ended up staring at the ceiling, even though I had been in the office before, it wasn't my normal surroundings to sleep in.

When Carlisle got home from work, he came into the room to check on me.

"Sorry to wake you son. How are you feeling?"

"You didn't wake me, I can't sleep. And the stitches are bothering me a little."

He crossed the room and came over to the bed. He pulled the covers down and lifted up my shirt. He looked at the steri-stripes covering the stitches and sighed, "How are they bothering you?"

"They hurt; I can feel them."

"When was your last vicodin?"

"Ask Esme, it was around the time she put me in bed."

He furrowed his brow, most likely thinking why the vicodin didn't knock me out. He lowered my shirt and gently put the blankets back on. He left the room without another word. I returned my attention to the ceiling, and I heard Carlisle's and Esme's voices muffled through the walls. He returned shortly later with a cup of water and a vicodin pill in his hand.

"Here you go, and I'll make sure that your siblings keep it quiet from now on."

"Thanks," I grabbed the pill and water from him and quickly took the medicine. I handed him back the water, and he nodded.

"I'll come in later before I go to bed to check in on you, but if you need anything at all, here's a walkie talkie so you don't have to yell."

He pulled the walkie talkie out of his back pocket, placed it next to me on the bed and left the room. I heard his voice again, and then the house became quiet. I again looked at the ceiling and after 10 minutes, I began to feel the tingling sensation of the vicodin kicking in. I then slipped into the unconsciousness of sleep.

When I woke up, the office was pitch black; the sun having set, no light was coming throw the window. My eyes began to adjust to the dark, when I noticed there was a darker shape at the foot of the bed. I reached my hand out to the lamp; my fingers finally found the switch and I got the light on.

"Shit – Bella! What are you doing here?!" I gasped when I tried to sit up and my stitches pulled a little bit.

"I came to check in on you," she said helping me re-adjust on the pillows "I couldn't see you last night because of the hospital; I'm not strong enough to be around _that_ much blood. I just needed to know that you were doing better."

"Why are you here in the middle of the night and not at home sleeping? I'm pretty sure Esme and Carlisle would have let you come over when I got home." I leaned back into the re-fluffed pillows and stared at her perfect face; her eyes mixed with worry and happiness, were much darker than I had ever seen them before; she quickly looked away.

"I don't need to sleep. And I did want to come over earlier, but Esme said you were sleeping and I didn't want to bother you."

"So you decided to come watch me sleep instead?"

"I told you, I needed to see you. I wasn't going to be long, no one would know that I was here," she seemed to be a little angered that I was not happy to see her, "Plus I wasn't expecting you to wake up – I'm sorry I startled you." She frowned just a little bit, and returned her gaze to me.

"It's okay; I don't mind you being here. Are you okay? You seem upset."

"I just – need to calm down that's all; I've been so worried about you..." she stopped and looked away again. She began to take deep breaths, and at one point I thought she was crying, but when she looked at me again her face and eyes were dry.

I reached my hand out to her face and rested my palm against her cheek. She sighed and put her hand on top of mine. She closed her eyes and very gently squeezed her fingers on my hand. "Your scent is back to normal," she smiled and opened her eyes.

We stared at each other, and as our faces began to get closer and closer, my heartbeat increased. She took my hand off of her face and wrapped it around her neck; she leaned in closer and our noses lightly touched. Both of us lightly jerked with the sudden spark on our noses; we both tilted out heads and she moved in the rest of the gap.

The strength of her lips upon mine was surprisingly very gentle; just like the rest of her skin, they were cold, hard and smooth like granite. We remained in this small embrace for a few moments. Bella pulled away first and brought her hand to her lips. She smiled at me, and I smiled back.

And then in a blink of an eye, she was gone. I laid there slightly dazed; the feeling of her lips still lingered on mine. Her kiss was not a kiss that I've ever experienced; though I had only kissed two other girls. Hers was controlled and not aggressive. Her kiss didn't carry that longing for further intimacies; it was just – sincere and filled with true love of the heart.

"_Love,_" I choked out to the room.

There was a tiny creak of the door opening and Esme entered, sleepy and surprised. "I thought I heard your voice. What are you – doing awake?" she asked yawning and tightening her bathrobe.

"I just woke up," I lied; I had been up for minutes.

"Can I get you anything? Do you need more medicine?" she asked fully entering the room and coming to the bed side.

"Could you help me up so I could use the bathroom?"

She nodded, and helped me stand. She followed behind me to the bathroom but remained outside of the door. I didn't have a real need for the bathroom; I just wanted to get out of the bed for a moment. I pretended to use the toilet, and when I exited the room, Carlisle stood with Esme.

"What time is it?" I asked seeing the both of them.

"3 A.M." replied Esme not taking her eyes off of Carlisle. I noticed that she slightly nodded her head in my direction, and Carlisle finally turned to look at me.

"Are you feeling okay Edward? You look flushed," he said with his eyes widening at my off-coloring.

"Yeah, I feel pretty good. Why?"

"When I helped you get out of bed – you felt feverish again," said Esme now looking at me, concern filling her eyes.

_Great! I can't tell them that Bella was just in the room, and that's the reason for my appearance now,_ I thought to myself.

"I honestly feel good, really!" I said in defense.

"I'm going to take his temperature anyway," said Esme walking past me to the bathroom.

Carlisle walked with me to his office and helped me get back onto the bed. Esme entered shortly after I was settled and placed the thermometer into my mouth. When it beeped and the temperature read 98.8, both of them blew out in a sigh of relief.

"You're close to normal. Being over 0.2 degrees is nothing," he said turning to Esme and gently rubbing her arms. "Can I go back to sleep now? It's _Saturday_!" he said sounding like a little kid wanting an ice cream.

"I'll be up in a minute," she said nodding to Carlisle, "I'm going to get him a Tylenol though,"

He kissed her on her forehead, and left the room. She covered me back up with a light blanket and she too left the room, but returned moments later. I took the Tylenol, knowing it would ease her worries.

"Try to get some more sleep honey. I know you hate just laying around, but you really need to rest," she lightly kissed me on the forehead, and turned off the lamp. I heard her stumble out of the room, and the door clicked closed.

I heard her walk up the stairs, and once her steps ended, the lamp turned back on. I turned toward it, and Bella stood there smiling; her eyes now lighter than earlier.

"Where'd you go?" I asked her noting the difference of her eye color.

"Hunting. I heard Esme coming down the stairs, and I needed to eat anyway – so I took the opportunity to – enjoy a deer," she lightly smacked her lips.

"I take it was good."

She nodded and laughed lightly.

Over the next few days and nights I spent my days lying in Carlisle's office. Each night Bella would come to visit me and keep me company.

I was finally allowed to climb stairs on Monday, and I was back in the comfort of my bedroom. I wasn't able to go to school quite yet, and the boredom started settling in. I found myself plenty of times replaying the kiss, which we still hadn't talked about, every time I remembered it – I would always smile. I knew that talking about the kiss would have to be something she was open about. There were plenty of questions that I wanted to ask, but I was too afraid of asking her during our mid-morning conversations and angering her to the point of waking someone up.

I was thankful when I woke up on Tuesday that it was sunny; I knew that meant Bella would not be in school, and once everyone was away, she would be coming over. Since I was now fully capable of taking care of myself, I quickly showered, dressed and brushed my teeth twice, when I knew Esme had left for Port Angeles.

After getting myself ready, I went downstairs to the living room, and found Bella relaxing on the couch staring out the bay window. "Hello Green Eyes," she said as I sat down.

"'Green Eyes'? Not another nickname is it?"

"Yes, it is – and this time, it's sticking!" she said lightly nudging me.

"Whatever," I nudged her back and we both began to laugh.

Her laugh was light and musical; mine was more from the throat since the stitches would tug if I laughed too hard.

"So, what do you want to do today?" she asked me and turning to face me.

"I don't know there's still not a lot that I can do. How about some television?"

"Nah, too boring; there's nothing good on in the mornings."

"True," I paused: _This is the perfect time to ask her those questions now,_ I thought to myself. "Can I ask you something?"

"Is it that time again for '50 questions'?" she asked raising an eyebrow.

"You don't have to answer –"

"No I will – I just thought we were over that, 'can I ask you something', honestly you can always ask me something!" she gave me a small grin.

"Before you had to take me to the hospital, when you were telling me, that there was something about me, you didn't finish you just trailed off. What were you going to say?"

The grin that was on her face, suddenly vanished. She stared at me for a long time, and I noticed she stopped breathing.

"Bella?!" I lightly tapped her and she took a struggled deep breath.

"I'm – sorry, but I can't answer that. You're going to have to wait until you're healed," she said looking away.

"Why?" I asked placing my finger under her chin and trying to turn her head which didn't budge.

"Edward, _don't,_" she hissed, "I can't tell you, not now."

I removed my finger and turned my gaze to the window. I looked at our reflection in the glass; her face a mixture of anger and shame; mine of just embarrassment.

"Why must you know _everything_ about me?" she finally asked after five minutes of silence.

"It's a normal thing to do when you are friends with someone. You learn about them."

She sighed – "Remember when I was trying to get you to guess my secret, and I called you the adopted son of the Chief of Medicine?"

"Yeah," I said slowly and curiously.

"I knew you had to be adopted because you and your siblings don't smell alike. Out of the families that I've met since the change, they smell similar, but your family is such a mixture of way too different scents."

"Really?"

"Yep; you're the strongest, Esme's the weakest," she finally looked back at me, "I smelled you the first day of school before I met you. Your scent hung in the air of the parking lot; it overpowered all of the other's."

"What does that mean?" I asked coyly, hoping to get the answer I desired.

"Nice try, but I told you I can't tell you yet, Green Eyes," she smiled her flirtatious smile again, and our lips were locked together for a second time.

**_So we finally get kisses between Edward and Bella! It felt like it was the time to get the ball moving on that... Edward's nickname of "Green Eyes" finally came to me when I thought about how my friends and I used to nickname each other; we did our eye color in like second grade, and I felt since his name is so hard to nickname he needed a non-name related nickname... There is really no need to know their scents, but in case you were wondering(weakest to strongest for Bella): Esme ~ dandelion; Carlisle ~ grass; Rosalie ~ cedar; Jasper ~ sage; Alice ~ rosemary; Emmett ~ pine; and of course Edward ~ Mint... As always, Stephenie Meyer is the proud owner of all things Twilight, and this is just for fun...Please review!!_**


	12. Chapter 12: Disappearance

_Okay, so I am sorry it has been a long time since I updated...school became why too much to handle and then it was Easter and then there was even more school stuff! But school is almost over for the summer, and now that all major projects before finals is finished my creativity returned and the characters began to talk to me again! I have been trying for a long time to write this chapter but every time I ended up staring at the screen not knowing what to do next. (word of wisdom for other writers, never end a chapter on a kiss, it is hard to break!) So, without further ado ~Enjoy!~_

And then suddenly she was gone. If someone could have seen me they would have wondered why my lips were puckered. It took me a few moments to regain my senses. I looked at my face in the window, and the expression matched what I felt; confused. I looked around the living room but there was no sign of her. I carefully got off of the couch and made my way to Carlisle's office, she wasn't there either.

"Bella?" I called out, but got no response. I made my way to the den and sat down on the loveseat to watch television. I ended up falling asleep...

_I was in the forest, the same place Bella and I had been just a few days ago. I was lying on my back looking up into the sky, my body frozen. I heard a low growling and then Bella was standing over top of me, protecting me, defending me. She didn't look the same. Her hair instead of being perfectly straight was all messed up and wild, her mouth was open exposing her teeth, dark shadows were under her eyes. Just as I was beginning to find the beauty within her new features, she turned and looked at me – and then lunged for my neck..._

"Edward wake up," said Esme gently nudging me. "Honey don't you want to be sleeping in your room?"

I was startled when Esme's hand touched my shoulder to wake me, causing a tug on my stitches; I gasped.

"Oh Edward I'm sorry!" she said soothingly.

"It's okay," I said standing up. "What time is it?"

"Noon, I came home from the site for lunch. Why are you so dressed up?" she asked looking me over from head to toe.

"I'm just tired of my pajamas; that's all," I said rubbing my hand through my hair.

"You need to take it easy; jeans aren't really the greatest to be wearing, just put on the pajama bottoms that should be fine. What would you like for lunch?"

"Um, what can I have?" I said walking toward the stairs.

"Soup, and Jell-O and soup" she said following me.

"Soup please," I said climbing the steps.

"I'll bring it up when it's ready," she said calling up to me.

I made my way to the bathroom to pick up my pajama pants. I quickly changed and then I went to my room to lie down. Esme came in about five minutes later with a bowl of chicken noodle soup and promptly left after giving me the tray. I ate the soup and placed the empty tray on the floor. With a full stomach, the sleepiness began to settle in again, and soon I was asleep again...

_I was lurking in the shadows of the forest, walking so lightly nothing could hear my steps. I stepped lithely over twigs and around trees following the delicious smell of marjoram. I broke out into a run, following the scent. I noticed that I had been running for a long time and never became tired; never needing to stop and take a deep breath. I kept following the scent; I became excited when I could smell it much stronger. I entered a clearing and saw her standing there..._

"Knock Knock – You awake?" came Emmett's voice through the door.

I opened my eyes and looked around my now dark room. I sat up a little bit and found the side table lamp.

"I am now," I replied.

The door open and Emmett entered carrying another tray with another bowl of soup and a cup of Jell-O. He handed the tray to me when he got close enough, a big smile on his face.

"Too bad you can't eat regular solids bro. Esme made her secret lasagna recipe, ah it was delicious I loved that I got to have your portion!"

He rubbed his stomach in a satisfying circular motion and I frowned at my second bowl of chicken noodle soup and cup of cherry Jell-O.

"Yeah well don't get used to it!" I joked blowing on the spoon of soup.

I didn't get tired again like I had after lunch, and I found myself sitting in my bed completely bored at 2 in the morning. I was sick of reading, and I knew there would be nothing on the television of any real interest at this time. I was hoping to be visited by Bella, but she never showed up. So with nothing better to do, I decided to think about the two very strange dreams that I had had. The first one seemed very obvious, I was attacked by Bella, but why would I be unable to move while laying on the ground and why wouldn't I fight back? The second one was harder to understand. I thought that possibly the girl at the end was Bella but I couldn't be sure. And how did I know that I was following a scent of marjoram? _Maybe it's one of Esme's secret ingredients_ I thought to myself remembering the smell in my sub-conscience.

I wasn't sure what time it was, but I finally fell back asleep.

After spending another full day at home I was getting really restless. I couldn't sleep any more and I was getting really tired of eating nothing but soup and Jell-O. By Wednesday night I begged Carlisle to let me go to school, by pointing out to him that most people younger than me go back to school after two days home recovery. So when he agreed that I could go to school on Thursday I was thrilled.

When I woke up Thursday morning I was happy to see that it was gray and raining, that meant I would get to see Bella. I was able to eat a bowl of dry cereal, and Esme packed me a lunch of more cereal and Jell-O, insisting that I still take it easy with food. I agreed only because she threatened not to let me go to school.

We took Rosalie's car, and when I arrived on the school grounds I immediately began to look for Bella's truck. I didn't see it, but I figured she was running late, or waiting for every one to be gone before she arrived.

All of my morning classes went by fast and I was trying not to run to the cafeteria when it was time for lunch. I scanned the crowd of my classmates, but I couldn't find her. I saw Alice wave to me, and I reluctantly went to sit with my family. Emmett, Jasper, and Rosalie were in a deep conversation over some class that they all shared so they didn't notice me sit down. Alice though smiled and leaned over, "She's not here today. In fact she hasn't been here at all since last Tuesday."

I simply nodded; I didn't want her to know how much I was really hurt to have not seen her yet. When I got to Biology I just wanted the day to be over.

That's how the rest of the week continued; no Bella. I tried calling her house, but no one ever answered and when I got Charlie he just said that she was out. I had asked him if her "allergy" had anything to do with why she wasn't in school and he simply said yes.

I called a few more times especially the night before the presentation of our project was due, but still I got no answer. So when I walked into biology empty handed I was shocked to see her sitting at our desk, smile on her face, and our model of the circulatory system resting in front of her.

"Hello Green eyes," came her musical voice when I sat down.

I simply scoffed. How could I just completely ignore the fact that she disappeared _during_ a kiss and then refused to talk to me for days afterwards, and now all of a sudden begin to talk to me again? She must have sensed my attitude because she didn't try talking to me again, at least until it came time for us to present our project. She handed me several 3 X 5 cards with our "script"

_Unbelievable! We were supposed to do this together and here she does all of the work!_ I thought to myself looking over the cards. Even though we never practiced our presentation went off without a hitch and Mr. Molina gave us an instant A+ for our creativity. I continued to ignore her the rest of the class and even after school. I pretended not to hear her when I got into the drivers seat of my Volvo.

When we got home from school Esme noticed my mood and tried to get me to talk about it, but I just went immediately to my room to do homework. When I opened the door to my room, I was shocked to see Bella sitting calmly on my bed as if nothing had ever happened between us.

"Hey Edward, is there something wrong between us?" she asked gently.

"You tell me," I said turning my attention to my backpack.

"Look, I know that I wasn't in school, and not answering the phone but I had a good reason for it!" she said pleading.

"Why did you leave last Tuesday then?!" I snapped at her. I turned to face her and was suddenly sorry for yelling at her when I saw her face; she looked to be on the brink of tears.

"I had too. We – shouldn't be getting as close as we have been getting. It scares me – how quickly you've accepted everything – how you've accepted me," she said quietly staring at her feet.

While looking at her I had a sudden flash as to how I might look when talking to Carlisle or Esme. I always look down when there is something bothering me, and they know when I can't look them in the eye, whatever is wrong is breaking me up inside. I decided to assure her that I was no longer angry; I walked to sit next to her on the bed. I put my arm around her and she leaned over into me. I was expecting her to be sobbing uncontrollably, but she never made a sound. We sat like this for several minutes when she then sat up and pulled herself away from me.

"This is what I am talking about Edward!"

She got up and walked over to the window. She stared out of it, and was unnaturally still. I stared at her, confused why she was suddenly acting this way. Suddenly a sun beam came out from behind a cloud and lit up her face. She closed her eyes and turned her head so I was looking at her profile and I finally understood what Rosalie must have meant about her appearance.

Her nose was perfectly straight, but it had a very small curl at the tip. Her cheek bones were high and complemented the placement of her eyes. Her lips were full, but I could see just a little tiny bit that her upper lip wasn't symmetric with her bottom lip. Her jaw bone was pretty strong and pronounced for a girls face, but it was also a nice complement for her cheek bones. She very well could have had plastic surgery; but I knew it was because she was a vampire. According to one of the vampires involved with her "education" she was supposed to be breath-taking gorgeous – to me she was more than that.

"Bella – I'm sorry for being such a jerk. Do you forgive me?" I said softly and turning my eyesight to the ground. _Coward, you can't even look at her_, I thought to myself.

"As long as you forgive me Green Eyes, I forgive you," she replied.

I looked up at her and saw that she kept her gaze outside. I took a deep breath, convinced myself to continue to look at her and I said and confident as I could, "I'll always forgive you Bella. As long as I love you – I will always forgive."

With that she turned and smiled, "You don't need to go that far Green Eyes," she said now frowning, "You shouldn't love me – I doubt you'll even want to see me again when I tell you why I am so attracted to your scent."

**_Ah a cliff hanger! Sorry, but it had to be done! I hope this chapter was well worth the wait! Yes, marjoram is a real herb I googled it and it is important for the next chapter, so don't google it if you don't want to be spoiled! Please review and as always Stephenie Meyer owns all things Twilight and this is written only for fun. _**

**_P.S. If by any chance you are interested in a suspense story, check out my newest Twilight related FF called "The Hunting" (it takes place 300 years after Breaking Dawn and will be updated when I hit road blocks with this story or if my imagination is really strong) _**


	13. Chapter 13: A Vampire over for Dinner

_So I noticed a tiny mistake with the rooms in the Cullen house. In an earlier chapter Edward says the television is in the living room, and in the last one it is now in a den; in my sleepiness and wanting to update I didn't notice this until I wrote this chapter. The television IS supposed to be in the den, the living room is just like a gathering spot for the family/visitors. We can blame my mistake on Edwards vicodin state, even though he wasn't too badly affected by the first one ;) shhh don't tell him!...Anywho here is the next chapter, it is pretty long, and in some places a little awkward, and the time line takes a bit of a leap...~Enjoy!~_

"Try me," I said smirking. If I could handle the fact that she was a vampire, than how could I _not_ handle her attraction to my – scent?

She rolled her eyes, and looked back out the window. She took a deep breath, and I did as well in anticipation for what she was going to say.

"I still can't tell you _right_ now though..." she started, but I cut her off.

"Oh come on Bella! I think I can handle it! My stitches don't bother me anymore!"

"If you'd like to explain to Carlisle _why_ I am in your room and _how_ I got in your room that's fine by me!"

She jumped out the window before I could say anything, and I sat on my bed dumbfounded to have seen her just so gracefully open the window and leap out. I recovered my scenes and got to the window to close it right when Carlisle knocked. I quickly reached into my pocket for my cell phone, flipped it open and placed it to my ear.

"Uh, hang on a minute Bella...Yes?"

"Edward, it's Carlisle; can I come in?"

"Yeah sure; Bella I need to call you back."

I waited to shut the phone until after Carlisle entered the room. He looked at my phone as I slipped it back into my pocket.

"What's up Carlisle?" I asked greeting him with a rare smile.

"Uh – I was just coming to check on you, see how you're doing today. I'm sorry for interrupting your phone call – if I'd known I would've waited until later."

"We were almost done talking anyways so it's no big deal. And I am doing great thanks." He didn't look convinced and I made it worse by looking around my room with the awkward tension.

"What exactly can you handle that Bella doesn't think you can handle?" he asked finally using his "father" voice.

"Hiking!" I said too fast and too excitedly.

"Hi - king?" he repeated stressing the syllables and still not convinced that that what was really said. "Edward, I think it's time that we – have a man to man talk – I know that you and..."

"Whoa...whoa...whoa! Hang on their Carlisle! We've had these 'man to man' talks before and believe me I remember _every_ detail of them!" I said interrupting him, holding up my hands like an criminal who surrenders, before he started with his usual banter about "being the gentleman"

"This is the first time that we've known about a girl you like, and I just want to make sure that you're – well you know – careful. She is the Police Chief's daughter after all, and you never mess with the daughter of a cop!"

_Oh Charlie is the least of my worry_ I thought to myself. "Carlisle, I think you _and_ Esme need to focus more on Emmett and Rosalie than you do me when it comes to _that_ topic." I looked down at my bed, and then felt that that was the wrong place to look and I quickly turned my gaze to the wall. After about thirty seconds of silence I sheepishly looked up at Carlisle, his gaze locked on my bed, his face now meaning business; his "doctor" face.

"The matters of your siblings and how your _mother_ and _I_ handle them are none of your concern," his attention suddenly locked to mine, I was taken aback by the sudden change of his tone and I couldn't look away, "If you and Bella are being intimate _you_ need to be smart about it," I was about to protest but Carlisle held his hand up and stopped me, "I'm not playing around with this Edward!"

"I know, but seriously, you don't have to worry about me and – Bella," I kept my gaze on him and he nodded, face relaxing back to normal.

"We have to take _that topic_ seriously because if we don't, the next time you need to talk to Esme and me..." he trailed off "...We've already been through that scare with one of your siblings, we don't need that scare again."

_What?!_ I thought.

"Who?" I said wondering which sibling it could have been but I still guessed it was either Emmett or Rosalie.

"The funny thing about doctor/patient confidentiality is I use it between all of you here in the house. I shouldn't have even said "siblings" but it slipped."

"Well, then when?"

"That's confidential."

"Before the move or after?"

"Edward, I'm not going to tell you. Just promise me, if you ever need – anything – talk to me first okay?"

"Uh, yeah – sure."

He simply nodded and then left the room. I stood feeling completely embarrassed by the whole conversation, and finally sat on the edge of my bed. I decided to do homework, but I couldn't focus on what I was doing. I sat staring at the paper on my desk when I heard Emmett's booming voice from the main floor calling up, "dinner!" Even through the closed door I heard him loud and clear.

I was finally able to eat solid foods again and each dinner for the week was my request. I chose her lasagna for tonight, since the noodles would still be soft enough. When I reached the dining room I heard Esme's gentle scold to Emmett for screaming up the stairs instead of walking up them, but he only scoffed. I was shocked to see that I was the third person to the table, Esme and Emmett being the first two. Rosalie and Jasper shortly arrived after I did, and Esme told us we could begin eating.

"What about Carlisle and Alice?" I asked confused why we were starting without everyone present.

"They're having a – meeting – right now. Carlisle said not to wait."

_That's odd. The last time they ever had a meeting during dinner was..._ I trailed off in thought, replayed the conversation with Carlisle from earlier – _Alice?! Was he talking about Alice?!_ I wasn't positive, but it would make sense why he trailed off.

"Edward?! Is everything okay down there?" asked Esme concern stuck on her face.

I snapped back to reality and noticed that I had put too much dressing on my salad and it overflowed onto the table.

"Oh, sorry!" I got up from the table and went into the kitchen to grab some paper toweling. I came back and noticed that my daydream made a huge mess, not just on the table, but it also spilled onto the floor.

"Way to go over there bro!" said Emmett trying to keep from laughing.

"Emmett!" said Esme. She had always hated when we laughed, or made fun, of each other, even if we deserved it, and right now I did deserve to be laughed at.

I ended up needing more paper toweling and by the time I finished cleaning up, Carlisle and Alice had joined us at the table. We all ate in silence, which is highly unusual; I guessed that Carlisle must have talked with all of us.

The rest of the school week went by without any hitches. Bella and I sat together in the cafeteria, helped each other with our Biology notes, and I walked her to gym. I told her small details about the conversation with Carlisle, but just said that maybe we should stick to talking on the phone and she happily agreed. We spent each night spending hours talking about what happened in school, to sometimes just sitting in silence and listening to each other breathe.

I was shocked on Friday morning when Esme suggested that Bella come over for dinner as a "thank you" for taking care of me when I was sick and they were all out of the house. I said that I would ask her, but knew she would probably say no, and I doubted if she said yes that Esme would put animal blood on the menu.

I waited until after school to invite her over for dinner and I was shocked when her response was yes. I told her that dinner was usually around 7:00, but she could come earlier and she told me that she would be there around 6:00.

_How's she going to pull this off?_ I thought driving home. The dinner meal plan was pizza, and I remembered that Saturday was steak. _That might work_, I thought. When we got home I found Esme in Carlisle's office working on his computer.

"Hey Esme, can we do steak instead of pizza tonight?" I asked.

"Sure, I'll have Carlisle grill them up when he gets home," she said not taking her eyes off of the screen. "Is Bella joining us?" she said now looking at me.

"Yeah she is," I said.

"Good, I'm glad. I like her; she should come here more often." Esme smiled lightly then returned to her work on the computer.

I nodded and slowly made my way out of the room, and counted down the hours until she arrived.

Promptly at 6:00 her truck came roaring up the drive way. I suddenly felt very nervous; I assumed it was how a girl felt waiting to go to her first school dance or date.

She had her hair pulled back into a ponytail, which she had never done in my presence, and her clothing was more formal casual than just casual. She lightly came up the steps and I opened the door right when she was about to knock.

"Hi!" she said in her musical voice very eagerly.

"Hey, come on in," I said stepping back from the door.

Alice soon was at the door, she and Bella were quickly in a hug and then Esme joined us by the door.

"Welcome Bella! We are so happy that you could join us tonight!" she said smiling.

"Thanks for inviting me Mrs. Cullen," Bella said still musically.

"Oh please, call me 'Esme!' 'Mrs. Cullen' was my mother-in-law!" she laughed, looked at me and nodded to the living room and then left to return to the kitchen.

"Uh, do you want to sit down?" I asked Bella closing the door.

"Sure," she and Alice glided to the living room, and I began to follow when Esme called out to me.

I went into the kitchen to see what Esme needed. "Can you please ask Bella how she likes her steak?"

I nodded and went to the living room; Bella and Alice already in a giddy conversation. "Bella, Esme wants to know how you'd like your steak."

She laughed then winked. I was furrowed my brow realizing what I said that was funny. _Bella, Esme wants to know how you'd like your steak._ I thought to myself again, and then I caught it, _steak_. I began to blush realizing that I just asked her how she wanted the object that could kill her – well at least the mythical vampires; I didn't know if a stake to the heart could do that to her, since she wasn't like the vampires in movies and books.

"As rare as possible," she said when she noticed that I got the meaning behind her laugh.

I returned to the kitchen, told Esme and had to convince her that yes Bella wanted her steak as _rare_ as it could be made. I knew that Carlisle would try to make Bella have it medium rare or medium, but I knew it wouldn't do any good.

I joined Alice and Bella in the living room and spent the whole time listening to them gossip about school. Around 6:20 Carlisle came in the room and greeted Bella with a warm "hello"

"Hi Dr. Cullen," she said in the same musical tone she had used to greet Esme earlier.

"'Carlisle' please, I don't go by 'Dr.' at home," he said.

"Just like my dad! He hates being called 'Chief Swan' once the badge and gun holster are off its Charlie – or dad in my case," said Bella happily.

"So a rare steak huh? How about I warm it up just a little bit to medium rare – you don't want to get sick," I knew it would come out sooner or later from him!

"I prefer rare please. I've never gotten sick, and if I do I'll let you say 'I told you so' okay?" she said coolly and musically.

"It's your stomach," he said leaving the living room.

It was shocking how quickly he gave up on the subject. He would never back down when the subject was something he cared about, and he cared about people not eating rare meats. He called for Alice a little while later, probably realizing that my guest was being monopolized by her.

"Are you really going to eat?" I asked her whispering.

"I'm going to try; hopefully there is enough blood to keep me from gagging."

"Why would you gag?"

"Normal food does not – agree with me any more. But since it is an animal, and rare maybe it will work!" she said hopefully.

"DINNER!" came Emmett's voice from the dining room, followed by Esme's "EMMETT! I'VE TOLD YOU NOT TO SCREAM OUT WHEN IT'S DINNER TIME!"

Bella and I began to laugh at Esme's obvious double standard about screaming; the table was all set, only the steaks were missing. Esme had added another chair next to mine; she put Bella in-between Carlisle and me. We all added the extra sides to our plates while waiting for the rest of dinner to end, but Bella took nothing.

"You can go ahead and help yourself to the side dishes Bella" said Esme.

"I'm okay the steak will do just fine," she replied smiling just a little bit.

"At least put something green on your plate! Edward hand her the salad bowl."

I glanced at Bella and she lightly nodded; I handed her the bowl and she took a tiny amount of salad. I was thankful that Esme didn't say anything else about her lack of sides. Carlisle came with the steaks a few moments later, carrying Bella's steak on one plate; our _cooked_ steaks on another.

I was surprised how easily she got along with my family, well except for Rosalie who spent the whole time ignoring her. She cut her steak into tiny pieces, and was able to swallow without any trouble; her theory must have been right. She even made the salad disappear, by placing it into her paper napkin, balling that up, and then throwing it away. She wasn't pressed about having dessert, and we were given the den to ourselves after dinner.

I was shocked how quickly time passed just watching television, but soon it was 11:00 and both Esme and Carlisle suggested it was time for her to leave.

"Charlie is going to be so mad! I told him I'd be home by 10!" she said as I walked her to her truck.

"Yeah, well, you can always say you lost track of time. I know I did."

"He won't buy that. According to him a person is always able to keep track of time!" she opened the truck door and threw her purse inside. "And it is Friday, so it's not like it's a school night!" she turned back to face me. "Do you want to hang out tomorrow? I thought maybe we could – hike," she smiled and began to laugh.

"Uh – sure – how did you know about that?" I asked her feeling the blood rush into my face.

"I heard the whole conversation between you and Carlisle. You know 'super vampire hearing,'" she said smiling a little. "If not, we could just explore the forest around Charlie's house,"

"We can go hiking – I've been itching to get out of the house and doing something fun," I didn't want to seem too eager, especially since Carlisle took hiking way out of context.

"Great I'll be here around 8:00? Or is that too early?"

"8:00 is fine. You should probably get going; we don't need the whole police unit coming here to find you!"

She lightly laughed, "You're right, Charlie is probably calling the deputies right now! – Well Goodnight Green Eyes," she stood on her tip-toes and lightly kissed my cheek and then gracefully climbed into her truck.

"Night Bella," I walked back to the porch and watched her drive back down toward the road. I caught a glimpse of Esme and Carlisle walking around the wall into the den; but I didn't care that they had watched us. I went upstairs and waited for the morning. I was hoping my question would finally be answered.

**_I hope you liked the humor in this chapter...even if it was a lame vampire joke...That's my tired humor for you! Anywho, please review tell me what you liked, what you didn't like and so forth! Um I'm not Stephenie Meyer, and no profit is being made!_**


	14. Chapter 14: Unknown Destination

_Okay, sorry it has been a while since my last update. My imagination sort of ran out and then stress from work was really keeping my imagination from flowing. This chapter, woo boy, it took a while to write. I kept re-writing it and re-writing it and finally discovered what was wrong -- We are getting to the end of this story (yep we are) and once I realized this I needed to sort of speed up the pace. This next chapter takes place where the other chapter left off, so I suggest you re-read that if you can't remember what has happened. Thanks for reading, and enjoy!_

I could barely sleep, but I finally fell asleep around 3 AM. I promptly awoke at 6:30; the house completely quiet. Being a Saturday everyone was still sleeping. I took a shower as quickly and silently as I could; when I got back to my room the clock read 6:40.

"HA! I knew I didn't take that long in the shower!" I said to myself, remembering the numerous complaints from Rosalie about how long I took to shower. I picked out clothes that would be suitable to wear outdoors for a long period of time, and once I finished dressing it was only 6:45. I walked to my clock and turned it the other way; I knew my constant clock watching was going to make the time go slower.

My stomach grumbled and I decided to have a light breakfast. As I walked to my door, I saw my cell phone lightly spinning on the desk ringing on vibrate. I got to the phone and the caller ID read; "Bella" and her picture was above her name.

"Weird, I didn't take her picture?" I said before I opened the phone and clicked "accept call."

"Hello?" I said quickly.

"I hope I didn't wake you Green Eyes, but a little change in plans. Can you come to my house instead of me picking you up?" her voice light and musical.

"You didn't wake me, and yeah I can pick you up,"

"Great! Well, see you soon!"

Before I could answer I heard the "end call" signal beep and then flipped my phone closed. My stomach growled again, and I continued my quest for food. I didn't really think twice about her changing the plans, in fact I was happier she wasn't coming here; it meant I could get out of the house without the third degree.

The kitchen was eerily calm, since there was no hustle and bustle to get out the door. I went to the freezer and found the box of toaster waffles with two waffles inside. I placed them into the toaster and continued gathering the necessary waffle toppings: maple syrup and chocolate chips. I smiled to myself a little remembering my mother making me homemade waffles and saying with a warm smile: "Chocolate is always needed!" and she giggled before saying, "and besides, who said you can't have a treat with breakfast?!"

Even though it had been ten years since my parents' deaths, their faces, their voices, were still burned into my memory that I could recall them with no trouble. I remembered my father laughing his deep from the stomach laugh when I had complained that my mother didn't give me enough chocolate; I then remembered the last time I saw them alive, and I could swear the feeling of my mother's kiss on my forehead, the only spot on my face that I allowed her to still kiss, lasted all these years.

The waffles popped out of the toaster, ending the memory of them walking out the front door for the final time. I quickly put them on a plate and spread a handful of the chocolate chips around them. I put on a little maple syrup and then poured a glass of orange juice. I ate quickly, but still slowly enough to enjoy them. When I finished I rinsed the plate off, and placed it into the dishwasher along with the empty cup.

I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket and the clock read 7:10. I sighed and shoved the phone back into my pocket. "It already feels like I should be leaving! How in the world is it _only_ 7:10!? Did I really eat that fast?" I muttered to myself as I climbed the stairs to my room.

I puttered around. I picked up dirty clothes and threw them into my laundry basket, and figured I might as well actually do the laundry when I had a huge mound of clothes. I picked up the basket went back down the stairs and into the laundry room. "Okay," I said setting the basket down at the washer. Esme had put a little chart on the washer stating which settings to use for the different fabrics and colors. I not really caring about how my clothes got washed; I threw them all into the washer. "If my whites turn a different color, oh well. The dyes from the darks should have already come out," I said to myself as I turned on the water and added the detergent. I closed the lid, put my laundry basket on top of the dryer and left the room to go back up stairs.

I went back to puttering around when I got back to my room. I made my bed, straightened the books on my shelf, moved some papers off my desk, and opened the window blinds. The sky was its usual grey and I sighed as I turned to my clock. I turned it around and it read 7:35. I decided that I should leave a note for Carlisle and Esme, and make my way to Bella's house.

I found the notepad of paper on the refrigerator and quickly wrote: "Hanging out with a friend. Can someone please put my clothes into the dryer and then into my room? Thanks. – Edward." I put the time that I wrote it in the upper corner and then used a magnet to hold it in place.

I got to the highway and my foot became heavy on the gas pedal. I past the school at 7:50 and I knew I was only minutes from Bella's house. I was suddenly overcome with excitement again; my heart was pounding and my hands began to shake on the steering wheel.

"Calm yourself down buddy," I said to myself quietly as I pulled in front of her house and noticing only her truck in the driveway. _Phew no Charlie_ I thought as I put the car into park.

The curtains and front door were open and I hesitated as I climbed the steps. Before I got to the top she was already holding the screen door open and was talking on the phone. She smiled and waved me in with her free hand.

"Uh I can't come down today I already have plans, but how about tomorrow?" she asked to the phone.

She pointed to the living room and then to the phone and rolled her eyes and turned to the kitchen. I took a seat on the couch and listened to her "uh huh" and "mm hmm". She walked back into the living room the phone still to her ear but she cupped the mouth piece and said, "Can I get you anything to drink or eat?"

"Nope I'm fine thanks," I replied.

"Okay, I'll be off in a few minutes – sorry," she returned to the phone conversation with another "mm hmm". She went back into the kitchen and most of what she was saying was quiet although at the end she got louder.

"Listen, Jacob, I have plans _to-day_, but we can hang out _to-morrow!_ I have to go now, my ride is here – We'll be in Olympia – We aren't going to a movie! Jacob you and I will see the movie _to-morrow_ come on I have to go! – okay bye."

She hung up the phone and glided into the living room. "Sorry about that, my friend forgot that he and I are hanging out tomorrow, and he wanted to make sure that I wasn't going to go see that new zombie movie without him," she sat down on the chair and sighed, "So, what do you want to do today?"

"Well, I thought we were hiking?"

"Oh – um – no 'change in plans' remember" she said frowning just a little bit.

"But I thought that was just for me to come here instead of you coming to my house?"

"Sorry, but what I meant was that all the plans changed," she looked down at the floor.

"Why?"

She sighed, "Because –" she broke off and turned toward the window, "I've heard it's going to rain,"

_ She can't be serious? _I thought to myself before saying, "It rains every day and that doesn't stop people,"

"We can hike another time – just not today!" she said getting to her feet and walking to the kitchen.

And then the phone rang.

She made a loud irritated "grr" sound with the first ring and answered with a stiff, "Hello?"

"Because you've kept me on the phone; keeping me from getting ready! What? Did you think I was really lying to you?" she scoffed and threw her left hand into the air as she spoke. "Good bye Jacob!" and she slammed the receiver back into place, breaking the phone.

"SH—AHHH" she said looking at the broken pieces of the phone on the floor.

Seeing her reaction I had the instinct to freeze and not move a muscle. As I sat frozen on the couch I saw her eyes become very dark as she picked up the pieces, and her face seemed more aggressive. And even though at times I couldn't see her moving, I could hear the slamming of cabinets within the kitchen.

I'm not sure how long it was, but soon I felt her strong hand on my shoulder; I didn't realize that I had closed my eyes.

"I think you should go back home Edward," she said with tension still in her voice.

I looked at her and noticed that her eye color was a muddy brown; not near the light gold it was last night.

"Are you okay? Your eyes..." I stopped before finishing.

"I'm just aggravated and I need to hunt; the blood from the steak didn't really help," she forced me to stand up and started guiding me to the front door.

"Sorry to hear that," I said as gently as I could, "but I would really like to stay here while you hunt,"

"Look, it takes me a while to come back to as normal as I can be after I hunt; if you are still here I could kill you," and with that she pushed me out the door and slammed it shut; I heard the deadbolt lock.

"Call me later...if you want too," I said softly knowing she would hear as I backed toward the steps.

When I got into my Volvo and started the drive home I kept replaying what had happened over and over. She was happy, maybe just a little irritated, but then she turned angry so fast. _I should have dropped the whole hiking thing_ I thought to myself as I passed the school. And I felt like she was lying when she said it took her awhile to become normal after a hunt, she had hunted when I was recovering from my surgery and she seemed perfectly norma. _Something is off with her _I thought.

I was half way home when suddenly the passenger door of the car opened.

"What the hell are you doing Bella?!" I screamed when I saw it was her.

"Don't go home! Keep driving!" she said fully entering the car and slamming the door shut.

"What?!" I replied with a bit of a shrill in my voice.

"_Don't go home!"_ she replied almost screaming.

"Why?" I replied still confused and shocked by her sudden entrance.

And suddenly she reached her hands out to the steering wheel and forced it hard to the left, causing the car to spin around and face the other direction. I let my hands go of the wheel as she did this, knowing the strength she had would have probably broken my wrists had I tried to stop her. When the car was going straight she released the wheel and I took it back.

"Floor it," she said now suddenly calm.

I pushed the petal down as far as it would go.

"Just what the hell is going on?" I said focusing on the road.

"You were being followed," she said calmly, "There's a car coming up use the left lane and pass it," she said pointing forward.

I saw the car, turned my wheel passed it on the left and noticed in my rear-view mirror the person flipping me off when I got back into the lane.

"Who was following me?" I asked trying to sound calm despite the adrenaline and fast heart beat.

"A member of my kind," she said still scanning the road.

"Why was I being followed?"

"Long story," she said fast, "Brake, there's a cop hiding in the bushes, he hasn't used the radar yet,"

I slammed my foot onto the brake pedal to get the speed to 50mph, two minutes later we passed the cop.

"How did you know there was a cop, and how do you know I was being followed?"

"I heard the radio of the cruiser, and I just know,"

"Should I speed back up?" I asked wondering if I needed to go faster.

"No, but keep it at or above 50; we can run fast, but not that fast," she said still keeping her eyes on the road.

"Where should I drive too?"

"How far can you go on a tank of gas?"

"Just tell me where to go!"

"I'll let you know when to stop," and she turned her face to look out the passenger window.

**_Cliff hanger! AHHH! There have been many of those. I promise that the next chapter Bella will finally answer Edward's questions, I mean gosh she owes him after forcing her way into his car and making him drive to only I know where...I have a feeling there may only be one or two more chapters remaining of this story line though...hmm (enter Maggie Simpsons "first word" from The Simpsons Movie here)...? As always, I am not Stephenie Meyer, and this is written for fun and for reviews, so if you want me to write the next chapter faster, show me the love and review! Please? _**


	15. Chapter 15: A Chance Encounter

**_I know, I know it has been a while since I last updated! I sort of lost that creative spark and then I began running into too many simularities with Twilight, so I had to iron those out and try to keep this story as far from Twilight as possible. I hope you like this chapter as it took me a long time to write, and re-write, and re-write. And for the readers who use the metric system I even included the metric equivalent for the U.S. measurement :) ~Enjoy!~_**

An eerie silence filled the car as I continued to drive. Many questions were swimming in my head and I kept scanning around looking for whoever it was following us. I glanced every now and then at Bella, who continued staring out the window. In the reflection I saw that her eyes were no longer a muddy brown, but now pitch black.

"Did you hunt?" I asked trying to relieve the tension both within the car and myself.

"No," she said with a sigh of sadness, "I didn't get the chance. Hey pull over in here."

I didn't argue and pulled into a restaurant parking lot. I was about to turn the car off when she said; "Stay in the car, but move over into the passenger seat."

She jumped out and crossed the car in the front. I took off my seat belt and climbed over into the passenger seat. I buckled the belt as she entered and turned the car around like she was a professional driver. We continued down the highway, and I sat watching the trees and small towns pass the window.

"What did you tell Carlisle and Esme about today?" she asked quietly turning to face me but keeping the car moving perfectly straight within the lane.

"Uh, I told them I was hanging out with a friend, why?"

She sighed, closed her eyes and returned to looking out the windshield. "Call them and tell them you are going to Seattle,"

"And what should I tell them I am doing there?" I asked getting out my cell phone from my pocket.

"Whatever, you can think of," she said pulling out her own cell phone. Her fingers moved quickly along the numbers, and she put the phone to her ear. "Hey dad, I'm letting you know that I am going to Seattle with a friend from school. I won't be home for dinner, and I might be home past midnight, so don't wait up okay? Bye."

She closed her phone and put it away without the car jerking in any direction. "Time is passing Edward! Call them now!" she said still keeping an eye on the road.

I found Carlisle's name within my phone book, but I decided to call Alice instead.

_"Hey Edward, what's up?"_ came Alice's perky voice over the phone.

"Can you do me a favor?" I asked nervously; I had never asked her or any one for a favor of this magnitude.

_"Sure, what can I do?"_ she asked now sounding a little alarmed.

"Tell Esme and Carlisle that – I've been contacted by a long lost relative and I am meeting them in Seattle. I don't know when I'll be back home; if I even come back."

_"Oh – wow Edward. Really? You're going to make me tell them this?! When were you contacted?! The last time I checked the adoption agency doesn't allow the adoptee to receive phone messages without the adopted parents' knowledge,"_ she didn't seem convinced at my horrible lie, and I could tell that she wasn't going to go along with it.

"Tell her that they do know, but you were just contacted," said Bella; her vampire hearing obviously helped her hear Alice's part of the conversation.

"Esme and Carlisle do know that I have a relative getting in contact with me; but I decided to meet them today, when I found out they are in Seattle," I swallowed hard hoping that Alice would buy the lie.

_"You should have called Carlisle or Esme! Fine I'll tell them, but you sure as hell better come back here and say 'good-bye' properly! We've been your only family for ten years!"_

Before I could say anything else she hung up. I closed my phone and held it in my hand waiting for the panicky phone call of Esme or Carlisle when they also learned of my lie. "I am going back home right?" I asked Bella while I stared out the windshield.

"I don't know Edward. I can't make you any promises – all that I know is I have to get you away from here."

She suddenly accelerated the car again, and when I glanced at the dash we were going near 80 MPH (128.8 km/hr). She turned the wheel hard to the left causing the car to spin and we headed back toward were we had just come from.

"Can you please tell me what's going on?" I asked holding the hand grip on the door.

"James found me," she said softly.

"The – vampire who changed you?" I asked.

"He was the accomplice," she said quickly, "He's been trying to find me since I left Phoenix."

"Why?"

Bella sighed, and she turned to look at me, "I'm bait."

"Bait?" I asked slowly; suddenly worried.

"They wanted to use my ability to act human to get them – food. But the night Renee picked me up from the summer camp, Victoria lost my scent, and the next day I was on plane here."

"Why are they still after you though?"

"Because apparently they are 'responsible' for me since they created me – but mostly because _he_ wants me back."

She finally returned her gaze to the road, and even though we spent a few minutes talking and speeding down the road she never steered the car out of the lane.

"But how did he find you?"

"Remember when I sort of disappeared on you? I left Washington and went to Oregon. I told Charlie that Renee didn't want to visit me in Forks, so we settled on Portland. Well, he followed her – and then me. But at the time I didn't know it, he stayed down wind at all times. I finally smelled him today – that's why I didn't want to come to your house – I didn't want him to find you and hurt you and your family."

"How do you know he won't do that now?!" I said panicked and flipping my phone open trying to think of some excuse why the family should leave the house.

"Because he is running behind the car," she said pointing behind her.

_How do we get him to stop?_ I said panicked, thinking of all of the special abilities I know that vampires have.

"I'm not sure, but I think I need to confront him," said Bella.

"What?" I said confused.

"I don't know how else to get him to stop" she said looking at me concerned.

"Stop what?" I asked suddenly feeling sick to my stomach, I leaned my head against the window.

"Are you feeling okay?" Bella asked extending her icy hand and resting it on my forehead.

I flinched at her hand, "Yeah – it's just a lot to take in that's all" I said.

"I know," she said looking back at the road, "And it's about to get worse."

Then suddenly she turned my Volvo onto a dirt road. Although my car protested against the dirt, she kept her foot firmly on the gas pedal and kept the speed up. We bounced all around, and I could feel the few remaining stitches pinching the skin. She finally stopped when the car when we came into an empty field, but she made sure to face the car to the path we had just taken.

"Whatever you do, try to keep yourself safe. Move over into the driver's seat and if things start looking bad, drive as fast as you can away from here, and keep going," she opened the door and was gone with a flash.

I sat in my car panting at the sudden over-whelming feeling that I was being watched, that I was being hunted.

I quickly jumped into the drivers seat and hovered my foot over the brake pedal and put my hand on the gear shift and waited.

Nothing happened – at least I couldn't tell something was happening. It sounded like there was a storm coming because I could hear booms of thunder, but I couldn't see any clouds or lightning. And then the car rocked.

I slammed down onto the brake moved the gear into drive and slammed the gas – nothing happened. My car didn't respond; I tried again and again, and then I realized that the growling noise I thought was my car was not.

A very wild looking man with only a pair of pants on, messy long blonde hair stood snarling in front of the hood – in his hand was the battery of my car.

I froze and stopped breathing. Millions of thoughts raced through my mind, my only chance of escape that Bella gave me was now completely out of the question. And then another boom of thunder and the man was gone. I began to breathe again, and saw Bella now standing where the man had just been.

She looked at me her face curled up like an animals, but then it softened. Her attention then immediately returned to where she had just sent the wild man flying towards. She took off after him.

While still sitting in the drivers seat I tried to see if my battery was anywhere near the car. If Bella could just keep that man occupied a little longer I could put the battery back in and be gone. I spotted the battery about six feet (1.8 m) from the passenger side – it was almost near the tree line.

I debated about leaving the car, but I needed to get that battery back in place. I pushed the button to open the hood, climbed over into the passenger seat, took a deep breath and opened the door and sprinted to the battery.

I was just about to grab it when I was suddenly hurled through the air. I landed on my back, getting the wind knocked out of me, on top of the hood of the car – causing it to close. Gasping and holding my chest I sat up and saw the wild man standing right by the battery. I heard him laugh.

"Do you want to try that again human?" he said while laughing, "I can't quite figure out why she wants to keep you this way!"

He jumped and landed right in front of me. He grabbed my arm and flung me back through the air. I landed this time by the battery getting the wind knocked out of me again – and I hit my head very hard onto the ground. I was gasping again and tried to sit up but I had no strength.

"What you don't like that?" he said now standing over me and placing his muddy foot on my chest, "do you know how easily I can get you to stop breathing?" he said putting some of his weight onto my chest causing me to flinch and cough at the sudden loss of air for a third time.

"W – wh – who a – ar –are – y – yo –you?" I gasped.

"I'm shocked! She didn't tell you who _I_ am?" he said with a grin. "I'm James, and you are my food!" he took a deep breath in, "ah yes, you will be a great meal!"

"Ja – James? You don't want to eat me, Bella will be here soon," I said hoping to get him more interested in finding her.

"No she won't! It'll be too late before she is here. See when I found her hiding out in this cold desolate land just to get away from me I began my plan. I've run all through these woods the last few days and since she isn't well trained she will follow each scent path – by now she is probably a good mile and a half away and still going!"

I groaned in my head knowing that he must be telling some of the truth, but also because the pain of my injuries were beginning to get through my senses. I began trying to think of a way to stall him and I hoped that Bella wasn't falling for all the false scents.

"Where's Victoria?" I asked still labored though.

"Oh you know about her? Well, let's just say she met her end when she lost Bella. You see I can't have my servants not properly fulfilling their duties," he paused when he saw the confusion on my face, "she was supposed to keep tabs on Bella! But she let her get away! It's just me now, so I don't have to wait to share you – although I should – I'm sure Bella would love to finally get a taste of your blood."

"Why share? Just eat me all" I said, but then regretted the open invitation.

"Oh isn't this perfect?! She didn't tell you? HAHA!" he burst out laughing, which I hoped Bella could hear. "You my dear boy, you are her perfect match! You can't smell scents obviously with your inferior scent abilities, but both of you have matching scents! We are attracted to those by scents! She will either have you for a meal – or for a life partner! Now obviously there are many people in this world with a scent that can match yours, but the probability of her getting the most satisfying meal, or satisfying lover, again any time soon is one in three billion!"

The world above me began to swirl and my eye sight started to become fuzzy – and my head began to feel like it was trapped in a vice. I could see through my blurred vision James looking up into the tree line. I saw his outline become close to mine – I felt a sharp pricking into my neck – and then a boom of thunder. Every thing then went dark.

**_Oh poor Edward! And poor Bella! Too much of a newborn to realize the trick of James! Please read the Epilogue...you will also get a piece of good news! As always I am not Steph. Meyer, if I was I wouldn't be writing a fan-fiction for a story that made me $$!! Thanks for reading!! _**


	16. Epilogue

**_Bella's POV_**

I chased James' scent about a mile from the field – I was getting worried why he was running so far away from Edward. Then I heard his laughter, it was faint, but I could still hear it. "EDWARD!!" I screamed turning around and running back towards the field. I saw James standing over Edward, his leg on top of his chest. I snarled and he looked up. He smiled – knelt down – and plunged his teeth into Edwards's neck. While he was kneeling I was already running and I crashed into him before he could drink too much of Edward's blood. I stood over Edward protecting him, my animal instincts telling me to protect my mate at all costs. I scanned the field for James, but he was gone, I could hear him running. And then I smelt Edward's blood so much stronger than ever before.

The fire in my throat rose, but I immediately turned my switch to being a human. I looked down at Edward who was awfully pale white – and his body looked broken. I saw the gash in his neck and the blood pouring out, but then I saw the gash beginning to heal and Edward began to convulse. I knelt down by his head, lifted his head and placed it on my lap. I bent forward and kissed his burning forehead.

"It's okay Green Eyes, I'm here – I won't ever leave you again," I began to rock him and stroke his cheek. "It'll only be for three days."

**_Sadly, this story line has come to an end...but that piece of good news I told you about at the end of the last chapter...I am ironing out the details of a sequel titled : A Changed Existence. I have no promises when this will be published because I need to make sure I have a story! So send me any inspiring ideas in the form of a review of the epilogue and I will write as soon as I can...As always I am not Steph. Meyer...and I hope I have entertained you in any way with this story! Thank You! Danke! Merci! Gracias! Grazie! Obrigado! ~Kat!!~_**


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